^ 


i 


\/ 


II>3C'?|0 


JflJVIES    H.  WEST,  Publisher,  Boston. 

COMMENTS  FROM  PRIVATE   SCIENTIFIC   SOURCES. 

"Ji  is  a  book  not  to  be  lightly  passed  over, —  indicating  almost  a 
new  epoch  in  the  evolution  propaganda.'''' 

"  The  book  is  A  BOOK.  It  is  unique.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  any 
other  such  book,  nor  that  there  will  be.  It  will  universally  take. 
Only  a  few  glances  at  it  are  required,  and  then  the  expressions  of 
astonishment  and  interest  follow.'''' 

[From  Herbert  Spencer.] 

"The  mode  of  presentation  seems  to  me  admirably  adapted  for 
popularizing  Evolution  views." 

[From  John  Fiske.] 

"I  think  your  schedule  attractive  and  valuable." 

BVOLUTION: 

Popular  Lectures  and  Discussions  before  the 
Brooklyn  Ethical  Association. 


"A  collection  of  essays,  exhibiting  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  as  applied  to 
religious,  scientitic  and  social  matters,  l)y  well-read  and  cultivated  gentlemen. 
Scholarly  and  instructive  ;  we  commend  the  book." — Keiv  York  Sun. 

"Among  all  these  papers  there  is  not  one  that  is  weak,  commonplace  or  un- 
interesting. They  are  all  full  of  thought,  presented  in  clear  language,  and  in 
an  "admirable  spirit." — llcUgio-  Philosophical  Journal. 

"Extremely  entertaining  and  instructive,  .  .  .  the  book  is  especially  in- 
tended to  S]^)read  a  knowledge  of  the  views  of  the  masters  of  the  Evolution 
theory,  making  a  smooth,  even  path  for  the  ordinary  mind  to  move  forward 
on,  so  that  the  general  comprehension  of  the  subject  may  be  made  easy." — 
lirooklyn  Citizen. 

OlTTI.iyi'J     or    (JONTF.NTS : 

Herbert  Spencer  :  His  life,  writings,  and  philosophy. 

Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson. 
Charles  Robert  Darwin  :  His  life,  works,  and  influence. 

Rev.  John  W.  Chadwick. 
Solar  and  I'lanetarv  Evolution     How  suns  and  worlds  come  into  being. 

Carrctt  r.  Serviss. 
Evolution  of  the  Earth  :  The  story  of  geology.  Dr.  Lewis  G.  Janes. 

Evolution  of  Vegetal  Life:  How  life  begins.  William  Potts. 

Evolution  of  Animal  Life  :  Rossiter  W.  Raynir)nd,  Ph.D. 

The  Descent  of  Man  :  His  origin,  antiquity,  growth.  E.  1).  ("<)i)e.  I'li.D. 

Evolution  of  !Mind  :  Its  nature,  and  development.  Dr.  Robert  f!.  Ecc'les. 

Evolution  of  Society  :  Families,  tribes,  states,  classes.  James  A.  Skilton. 

Evolution  of  Theology:  Development  of  religious  beliefs.  Z.  Sidney  Samjjson. 
Evolution  of  Morals:  Egoism,  altruism,  utilitarianism,  etc. 

Dr.  Lewis  (;.  .Janes. 

Proofs  of  Evolution  :  The  eight  main  scientific  argumeuts.  Nelson  V.  Parshall. 
Evolution  as  Related  to  Religious  Thought.  Rev.  John  W.  Chadwick. 

The  l'hiloso])hv  of  Evolution  :  Its  relation  to  prevailing  svstems. 

Starr  H.  Nichols. 
The  Effects  of  Evolution  on  the  Coming  Civilization.      Rev.  Minot  J.  Savage. 

Iniform    icith    "  SOC  TOLOO  i." 


ONE    VOLUME,    Fine    Cloth,    408    Pages. 
ILLUSTRATED.       Complete     Index.       $2.00,  postpaid. 


JflJVIES   H.  WEST,  Publisher,  Boston. 


EVOLUTION    ESSAYS,  —  SECOND    SERIES. 

"  Deserve  the  attention  of  readers  of  popular  science.  They  include,  so  far, 
excellent  lectures." — Literary  World. 

"One  of  the  most  systematic,  concise,  and  comprehensive  presentations  in 
popular  form  of  the  foundation  and  theory  of  evolution.  Excellent,  .  .  suc- 
cint,  .  .  interesting." — Public  Opinion. 


Uniform,  tvith  "  EVOIjJJTION." 

SOCIOLOGY: 

Popular  Lectures  and  Discussions  before  the 
Brooklyn  Ethical  Association. 


OVTLIKX:     OF  CONTEXTS: 

The  Scope  and  Principles  of  the  Evolution  Thilosophy,       Dr.  Lewis  G.  Janes. 

The  Relativity  of  Knowledge,  Dr.  Robert  G.  Eccles. 

Primitive  Man,  Z.  Sidney  Sampson. 

Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation,  C.  Staniland  AN'ake. 

Evolution  of  the  State,  John  A.  Taylor. 

Evolution  of  Law,  Prof.  Rufus  Sheldon. 

Evolution  of  Medical  Science,  Dr.  Robert  G.  Eccles. 

Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor,  Rev.  John  C.  Kimball. 

Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts,  James  A.  Skilton. 

Evolution  of  the  Wages  System,  Prof.  George  Gun  ton. 

Education  as  a  Factor  in  Civilization,  Miss  Caroline  B.  Le  Row. 

Evolution  and  Social  Reform  :    1.  The  Theological  Method, 

Rev.  John  W.  Chadwick. 

Evolution  and  Social  Reform :    2.  The  Socialistic  Method,  William  Potts. 

Evolution  and  Social  Reform  :    3.  The  Anarchistic  ^Method, 

Hugh  O.  Pentecost. 
Evolution  and  Social  Reform  :    4.  The  Scientific  INIethod, 

Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson. 

Asa  Gray,  Mrs.  Mary  Treat. 

Edward  Livingston  Youmans,  •  Prof.  John  Fiske. 


ONE    VOLUME,    Fine    Cloth,    412    Pages. 
With    Diagram.        Complete    Index.        $2.00,    postpaid. 

*i)f*  The  above  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  price.     Address, 

JA^ES  H.  WEST,  Publisher, 

196  Summer  Street,  BOSTON. 


specimen  Press  flotiees  of  ** Evolution." 

"A  book  which  serves  a  double  purpose :  to  present,  succintly  yet  completely,  the 
evolution  philosophy;  and  to  show  its  application  to  and  influence  upon  all  the 
interests  of  life.  It  is  not  i)ossible  to  spealv  of  this  book  with  any  degree  of  reserve. 
It  is  entirely  admirable.  It  should  be  a  matter  of  pride  to  every  American  that  such 
an  adecpiate  presentation  of  a  vital  principle  has  been  made  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic." — lionton  Times. 

"  Devoted  to  concise  and  remarkably  clear  expositions  of  evolution  as  a  philosophy, 
as  relating  to  the  physical  world,  to  man,  to  society,  to  theology,  to  morals,  and  relig- 
ious thought.  The*  book  is  prefaced  by  two  extremely  interesting  biographical 
chapters." — CanihrUI'je  (Mass.)  Tribune. 

"  The  subjects  are  verv  fully  discussed,  and  the  seeker  for  inf(jrmation  can  scarcely 
find  the  case  of  the  evolutionists  better  stated  in  a  popular  form.  This  combination 
of  thought  and  study  in  one  inexpensive  volume  is  timely  and  valuable." — New 
Jiedford  Mercury. 

"The  whole  field  of  Evolution  is  presented  in  a  popular  manner,  in  a  handsomely 

Erinted  book,  .  .  .  one  of  the  clearest  and  most  comprehensive  on  the  subject  that 
as  yet  appeared.  It  will  prove  most  acceptable  to  the  general  reader." —  Cincinnati 
Commercial  Gazette. 

"The  writers  seem  to  have  taken  pains  to  make  their  subjects  plain,  and  to  have 
had  good  success  in  doing  so.  We  recommend  this  collection  of  essays  to  those  who 
wish  for  a  simple  but  accurate  exposition  of  the  evolutionary  philosophy." — Science 
(New  York). 

"One  of  the  best  thoroughly  popular  works  on  the  general  subject  that  have  yet 
appeared." —  Public  Opinion. 

"An  admirable  contribution  of  thought  upon  this  problem, —  one  of  the  most 
complete  yet  made, —  and  will  be  found  of  interest  to  everybody." — Lawrence 
Am,erican'. 

"  The  subjects  are  all  broadly  treated,  and,  taken  together,  these  essavs  comprise 
a  clear  and  concise  presentation  of  the  theory  of  evolution."— /Jos^o/*  BuiUjet. 

"  Scholarly  and  instructive." — New  York  Sun. 

"These  essays  present  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  in  almost  every  asi)ect,  and  a 
glance  at  the  list  of  authors  will  sufficiently  indicate  the  admirable  skill  and  thought 
that  have  been  brought  to  bear  uj)on  the  subject  in  this  edifying  volume.  The  book 
merits  hearty  connnendation." — lioslon  Satnnlaij  Kvenimj  (luzcttr. 

"They  are,  without  exception,  excellent  in  thought,  si)irit  and  method  of  treat- 
ment."— Truth  (l'ittsl)ur'jli). 

"It  is  most  comprehensive,  yet  popular,  in  its  mode  of  treating  its  subjects,  and 
furnishes  in  compact  form  the  last  words  which  have  yet  appeared  on  the  subjects  of 
which  it  tn^ats." — New  Haven  I'alladimn. 

"The  value  of  the  book  cannot  be  overestimated,  for  it  is  representative  of  the 
foremost  thought  on  the  foremost  theory  of  the  age." — Buffalo  Courier. 

"  Every  essay  in  the  work  recognizes  evolution  as  a  universal  law.  It  is  made  to 
account  for  all  the  i)henoiiiena  of  the  universe,  and  to  us  it  appears  to  account  for 
them  remarkably  well.  We  confess,  with  sometliing  of  chagrin,  that  we  can  discover 
nothing  atheistic,  immoral  or  heterodox  in  their  peculiar  o])inions.  We  had  buckled 
on  our  armor,  and  set  our  controversial  lance  in  rest,  in  prejtaration  for  a  tilt  with 
this  adventurous  knight-errant,  Evolution.  Hut  we  decline  to  enter  the  lists;  for  is 
not  the  mailed  warrior  whom  we  mistook  for  an  enemy  the  miglitiest  champion  of 
tnitli?  .  .  .  The  book  is  handsomely  itrinted,  substantially  bound,  anil  fully  indexed." 
— Lowell  Times. 

"The  book  is  one  that  will  find  a  welcome  among  advanced  thinkers." — I'ldladel- 
jihia  'i'ime.'i. 

"  A  work  of  unusual  interest — a  book  to  set  thinkers  to  thinking." — Wo;/  Times. 

"The  volume  is  one  which  every  man  who  wishes  to  keej)  au  couraid,  with  the 
latest  i)has<'s  of  thought,  but  has  ni)t  the  leistirc  to  master  elaborate;  treatises,  should 
welcome.  .  .  .  The  lectures  are  j)i)i)ular  in  the  sense  that  they  do  not  reijuire  on  the 
l)an;  of  the  reader  any  spei'ial  scientifi(!  ])rei)aration,  but  they  are  not  iioi>ular  in  the 
sense  usually  attached  to  the  i)lir.ise,  'jxipular  lectures,'— that  of  a  weak  dilution  of 
thouglit  and' knowledge  to  meet  the  caj)acity  of  weak  intelligences.  .  .  .  Eac^h  lecture 
is  followed  by  an  alistract  of  the  discussion  which  the  lecture  evolved,  and  the 
dissentient  reader  may  often  have  the  satisfaction  of  finding  his  own  criticisms 
jiertinently  stated." — Il(»w  .fournal  (Xew  York). 

"The  drift  of  the  volume  altogether  is  in  the  direction  of  intellectual  expansion." 
— New  York  Tribune. 

"  It  is  a  systematic,  concise,  and  comiirehensive  presentation,  and  should  be  read 
l)y  all  interested  in  the  subject  whether  from  a  l)iological,  sociological,  or  philosoph- 
ical standpoint." — /'ojndar  Science  News. 


SOCIOLOGY 


The  eye  reads  omens  where  it  goes, 
And  speaks  all  languages  the  rose ; 
And,  striving  to  be  man,  the  worm 
Mounts  through  all  the  spires  of  form. 

—Nature,  i.,  7. 

The  fossil  strata  show  us  that  Nature  began  with  rudimental  forms,  and  rose 
to  the  more  complex  as  fast  as  the  earth  was  lit  for  their  dwelling-place ;  and 
that  the  lower  perish  as  the  higher  appear.  Very  few  of  our  race  can  be  said  to 
be  yet  finished  men.  We  still  carry  sticking  to  us  some  remains  of  the  preced- 
ing inferior  quadruped  organization.  .  .  The  age  of  the  quadruped  is  to  go  out, 
— the  age  of  the  brain  and  of  the  heart  is  to  come  in.  And  if  one  shall  read  the 
future  of  the  race  hinted  in  the  organic  effort  of  Nature  to  mount  and  melior- 
ate, and  the  corresponding  impulse  to  the  Better  in  the  human  being,  we  shall 
dare  affirm  that  there  is  nothing  he  will  not  overcome  and  convert,  until  at  last 
culture  shall  absorb  the  chaos  and  gehenna.  He  will  convert  the  Furies  into 
Muses  and  the  hells  into  benefit.—  Culture. 

—Ralph  Waldo  Ejiebsox. 


SOCIOLOGY 


tv. 


Popular  Lectures  axd  Discussions 

before  the 

Brooklyn  Ethical  Association. 


BOSTON  : 
JAMES  H.  WEST,  Publishek 

196  Summer  Stkeet 
1890 


Copyright  by 
JAMES    H.    WEST, 

1890. 


PREFACE. 

Sociology  :  a  new  word  for  a  new  generation :  the  name  of  a 
new  science  —  the  science  of  social  evolution.  To  Auguste  Comte 
we  owe  the  name,  and  some  pregnant  suggestions  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  new  science.  To  Herbert  Spencer,  more  than  to  any 
other  thinker,  Ave  owe  the  formulation  of  its  laws,  and  the  collec- 
tion and  classification  of  the  facts  on  which  they  are  based.  A 
growing  multitude  of  other  writers,  however,  have  ably  contrib- 
uted to  the  numerous  departments  of  sociological  research,  bring- 
ing to  this  new  field  of  study  a  wealth  of  patience  in  scientific 
investigation,  and  thoughtful  consideration  for  social  phenomena. 

Sociology  is  a  science  yet  in  the  making.  It  is  not  an  exact 
science,  like  miathematics.  It  formulates  no  dogmas.  It  lecog- 
nizes  the  relativity  of  societary  forms,  customs  and  institutions. 
It  has  no  authoritative  priesthood.  It  presents  no  panaceas  for 
the  reformation  of  social  ills.  It  clearly  indicates,  however,  the 
natural  trend  of  societary  evolution,  and  thus  affords  wise  sug- 
gestions for  our  guidance  in  practical  affairs.  Its  word  is  one  of 
salutary  caution  rather  than  of  definite  and  formal  instruction 
concerning  the  duties  of  the  hour. 

Sociology  is  based  on  Evolution.  The  present  interest  in  its 
problems,  and  their  supreme  importance  to  human  well-being, 
rendered  it  the  natural  topic  for  the  consideration  of  the  Brook- 
lyn Ethical  Association,  following  the  general  discussion  of  the 
doctrine  of  Evolution  in  the  previous  volume  of  these  lectures. 
Sociology  recognizes  that  the  method  of  Nature  in  society  is 
identical  with  its  method  in  the  development  of  suns  and  plan- 
etary systems,  of  vegetal  and  animal  life,  and  of  the  body 
and  mind  of  individual  man.  This  method  is  the  method 
of  natural  growth  as  contra-distinguished  from  supernatural 
creation  or  artificial  manufacture.  It  involves  that  element 
of  spontaneity  which  is  inherent  in  all  processes  of  organic 
growth,  and  which  in  the  mind  of  man  appears  under  the  form 
of  self-conscious  freedom.  Societary  growth  is  regular,  orderly,  in 
accordance  with  its  own  inherent  laws:  but  these  laws  are  not 
mechanically  imposed  conditions.  They  are  the  spontaneous 
expressions  of  progressive  tendencies  resident  in  society  itself,  or 
in  the  individuals   of   which   it  is  composed,  the   operation   of 

(V) 


vi  Preface. 

■which,  though  orderly,  is  infinitely  varied,  and  adaptable  to  an 
infinite  variety  of  social  conditions. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  a  priori  scheme  of  the  social 
reformer  can  never  be  made  to  exactly  fit  the  actual  conditions  of 
any  given  society.  It  may  serve  to  stimulate  thought,  to  promote 
altruistic  endeavor,  to  educate  the  individual:  it  cannot  become  a 
practicable  panacea  for  social  ills.  Abundant  are  the  schemes  of 
this  sort  which  are  presented  to-day  for  our  consideration:  Nation- 
alism, the  Single-tax,  Socialism,  Anarchism,  Free-trade,  Protec- 
tion, Prohibition,  and  what-not?  Evil  will  be  the  day  when  we 
legislate  any  one  of  them  into  being,  expecting  thereby  the 
abolition  of  poverty  and  crime,  or  the  speedy  renovation  of 
society. 

Evolution  —  Sociology  —  points  to  the  safer  and  wiser  way  of 
individual  enlightenment  and  moral  education.  It  studies  care- 
fully the  past  history  of  man,  that  it  may  act  wisely  for  the 
amelioration  of  his  present  condition.  It  aims  directly  at  the 
improvement  of  individual  character.  It  seeks  not  so  much  to 
antagonize  the  schemes  of  social  reformers  as  to  subject  them  all 
to  the  operation  of  the  principle  of  Natural  Selection:  —  wisely  to 
choose  what  is  instructive  and  good  in  each;  wisely  to  take  such 
forward  steps  as  are  practicable  and  may  be  securely  held; 
to  substitute  the  method  of  evolution  for  that  of  violent  and 
spasmodic  change,  and  thus  to  promote,  surely  if  slowly,  the 
permanent  welfare  of  societies  and  individuals. 

If  this  book  —  the  thoughtful  contribution  of  free  individuals 
working  with  no  selfi.sh  aims  or  conscious  dogmatic  or  partisan 
bias  —  shall  be  of  some  slight  service  in  forwarding  this  most 
worthy  and  desirable  end,  in  promoting  scientific  thought  and 
wise  action  on  the  pressing  problems  of  social  life,  the  labors 
which  have  brought  it  into  being  will  be  abundantly  rei)aid. 


CONTENTS. 
Preface, v 

The  Scope  and  Principles  of  the  Eyolutiox  Phi- 
losophy,                3 

Wallace  on  Darwinism;  evolution  a  universal  method; 
agnosticism  —  what  is  it?  the  nature  and  limitations  of 
knowledge;  the  relations  of  the  evolution  philosophy  to 
materialism  and  idealism;  to  the  doctrines  and  methods 
of  the  Christian  church;  its  relations  to  sociology;  its 
attitude  toward  the  practical  problems  of  social  life. 

By  Dr.  Lewis  G.  Janes. 

The  Relativity  of  Knowledge, 29 

The  nature  of  sense-perception ;  sight,  sound,  taste,  smell, 
feeling;  the  doctrine  of  the  Unknowable;  the  relative 
nature  of  matter,  motion,  form,  weight,  extension;  the 
relativity  of  ethical  and  social  theories;  the  truth  of  def- 
inite relations;  tlie  doctrine  of  relativity  assures  charity 
and  mental  freedom. 

By  Robert  G.  Eccles,  M.D. 

Primitive  Man, 45 

Man  as  revealed  by  archaeological  studies;  evidences  of 
man's  antiquity;  geological  periods;  man's  appearance  in 
the  pliocene;  palajolithic  and  neolithic  races;  the  ages  of 
bronze  and  iron;  cave-men  and  lake-dwellers;  dolmen- 
and  mound-builders;  primitive  implements  and  tools; 
proofs  of  man's  natural  evolution. 

By  Z.  Sidney  Sampson. 

Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation,      ....       69 

Marriage  a  primitive  institution;  its  earlier  forms;  no 
evidence  of  original  promiscuity ;  exogamy  and  endogamy; 
group-marriage;  polygyny,  polyandry  and  monogamy; 
marriage  by  capture;  monogamy  the  highest  form  of  the 
relation;  divorce  and  divorce-laws;  marriage  a  contract; 
its  regulation  by  the  State. 

By  C.  Staniland  Wake. 

Evolution  of  the  State, 91 

The  growth  of  political  institutions;  the  patriarchal  family; 
the  tribe   and   clan;    the  ancient  city;   monarchical  and 

(vii) 


viii  Contents. 

representative  governments;  constitutions  —  written  and 
unwritten;  the  American  Republic  —  its  success  and  its 
dangers;  evils  of  municipal  government;  what  final  form 
will  the  State  assume  ? 

By  John  A.  Taylor. 

Evolution  of  Law, Ill 

How  law  begins;  statute  law  and  judge-made  law;  the  con- 
version of  customs  into  law;  religious  sanctions;  legal 
fictions;  the  development  of  equity  jurisprudence;  the 
common  law;  legislation;  the  codification  of  laws;  laws 
for  the  collection  of  debts;  personal  rights  under  the  law. 

By  Prof.  Rufus  Sheldon. 

Evolution'  of  Medical  Science, 133 

Supernatural  ideas  of  disease;  fetishism  in  medicine;  the 
beginnings  of  medical  science;  Pythagoras  and  Hippoc- 
rates, Celsus  and  Galen;  Christianity  and  medical  science; 
the  Mohammedan  influence;  homeopathy  and  allopathy; 
foods  and  poisons;  the  development  of  surgery,  anatomy, 
physiology,  chemistry  and  pharmacy;  bacteriology;  the 
growth  of  sanitary  science. 

By  Robert  G.  Eccles,  M.D. 

Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor, 159 

Tlie  necessity  for  arms  and  armor  under  the  struggle  for 
existence;  Nature's  two  methods  —  among  animals,  plants, 
men,  nations;  how  arms  and  armor  have  led  to  the  indus- 
trial arts;  to  a  higher  manhood;  to  co-operative  effort;  to 
individualism;  the  weapons  of  thought;  our  National 
policy  as  regards  defenses;  the  two  methods  in  religion, 
morals,  law,  social  safety;  on  this  rude  stalk  the  flower 
at  last  of  universal  peace. 

By  Rev.  John  C.  Kimball. 

Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts, 191 

Development  of  the  human  hand;  the  earliest  use  of  imple- 
ments and  tools;  man's  mechanical  structure  and  adap- 
tation for  work;  the  psychology  of  the  mechanic  arts;  the 
relation  of  mechanics  to  mental  evolution;  the  genesis  of 
invention;  patents  and  patent-laws;  inventions  in  agricul- 
ture and  manufactures;  have  they  benefited  the  laboring 
classes  ? 

By  Jaaies  a.  Skilton. 

Evolution  of  the  Wages  System, 217 

The  definition  of  wages;  economic  characteristics  of  the 
wages  system;  wages  the  outgrowth  of  slavery;  origin 
and   development  of   the  wages   system;  its  relation   to 


Contents.  ix 

material  improvement,  social  freedom,  and  a  progressive 
civilization;  to  the  welfare  and  progress  of  the  laboring 
classes;  the  factory-system;  importance  of  stipulated 
incomes;  the  wages  system  compared  with  Nationalism 
and  Socialism;  its  relation  to  social  reform. 

By  PiiOF.  George  Gunton. 

Education  as  a  Factor  in  Civilization,    .     .     .     235 

TJie  beginnings  of  education;  early  methods  in  Egypt, 
Persia,  China,  Greece  and  Kome ;  early  Christian  ideas  of 
education;  Catholic  and  Protestant  views;  the  common- 
school  system;  influence  of  Comenius,  Pestalozzi  and 
Froebel;  the  kindergarten;  manual  training;  education 
and  crime;  the  university ;  classical  and  scientific  studies; 
the  higher  education  of  women;  co-education;  the  future 
of  our  educational  system. 

By  Miss  Caroline  B.  Le  Row. 

Evolution  and  Social  Eeform  :  /.  The  Theological 

Method, 257 

Eeligion  the  formative  principle  of  social  growth ;  its  rela- 
tion to  Socialism;  theological  morality;  influence  of  Clu-is- 
tianity  on  social  development;  New  Testament  ideas  of 
marriage  and  wealth;  early  Christian  Socialism;  monasti- 
cism;  influence  of  the  Jews  and  Mohammedans;  the 
church  and  industrialism;  usury  or  interest;  the  church 
and  slavery;  alms-giving  and  pauperism;  the  effect  of 
preaching  on  character;  repentance,  conversion  and  atone- 
ment; the  religious  method  the  method  of  personal  char- 
acter. 

By  Rev.  John  W.  Chadwick. 

Evolution  and  Social  Eeform  :  //,  The  Socialistic 

Method, .     277 

Communism,  Socialism  and  Nationalism;  the  metliods 
defined;  origin  of  their  modern  phases;  tendencies  of 
Socialism  to  militantism;  State-socialism;  the  doctrine 
of  equality  of  earnings;  equality  rs.  liberty;  Mr.  Bellamy's 
theory  criticized;  Henry  George  and  the  "single  tax"; 
the  injustice  of  land-confiscation;  relation  of  land- values 
to  the  value  of  improvements;  socialistic  schemes  arti- 
ficial, not  organic;  profit-sharing  and  voluntary  co-op- 
eration; opportunism. 

By  William  Potts. 

Evolution  and  Social  Reform  :    III.  The  Anarch- 
istic Method, 803 

Anarchy  regarded  as  a  science;  its  opposition  to  government 
by   physical   force;    its   methods   not   revolutionary   but 


X  Contents. 

evolutionary;  anarchism  in  social  customs ;  its  economic 
principles;  involuntary  poverty,  its  causes  and  cure; 
injustice  of  rent,  interest  and  profits;  social  parasites; 
anarchism  and  the  ballot;  its  method  that  of  education 
and  peaceful  propagandism ;  its  ideal  that  of  mutualism 
between  free  individuals. 

By  Hugh  O.  Pentecost. 

Evolution  and  Social  Keform  :  IV.  The  Scientific 

Method, 321 

The  scientific  method  based  on  the  uniformity  of  Nature ; 
the  polarity  of  Individualism  and  Socialism;  the  psycho- 
logical argument;  necessity  for  governmental  limitation; 
the  scientific  method  as  distinguished  from  the  theolog- 
ical, the  socialistic  and  the  anarchistic;  it  advocates  the 
golden  mean;  it  cultivates  individual  independence;  its 
relation  to  education  and  ethical  culture. 

By  Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson. 

Asa  Gray  :    His  Life  and  Work, 339 

His  birth  and  youth;  his  indebtedness  to  Amos  Eaton;  his 
relations  with  Dr.  John  Torrey;  his  works  on  botany ;  the 
" North  American  Flora "  ;  his  contributions  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Evolution;  his  correspondence  with  Darwin;  his 
personal  characteristics;  his  genius  recognized  by  other 
botanists;  his  great  industry;  his  unobtrusive  modesty; 
causes  of  his  unfinished  work. 

By  Mrs.  Mary  Treat. 

Edward  Livingston  Youmans  :  The  Man  and  His 

Work, 365 

His  birth  and  ancestry;  his  education;  his  early  interest  in 
natural  science;  his  blindness;  his  interest  in  reforms;  his 
contributions  to  chemistry;  his  career  as  a  scientific  lec- 
turer; his  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution;  his 
introduction  of  Herbert  Spencer  to  America;  his  estab- 
lishment of  the  "International  Scientific  Series"  and  the 
Popular  Science  Monthly  ;  his  visits  to  England ;  his  bi-oad, 
democratic  spirit  and  unselfish  personal  character. 

By  Pbof.  John  Fiske. 

Index, 393 


THE  SCOPE  AND  PRINCIPLES  OF 
THE  EVOLUTION  PHILOSOPHY 


BY 


LEWIS  G.  JANES 


Author  of  "A  Study  of  Primitive  Christianity,"  "The  Evolution  of 
THE  Earth,"  "Evolution  of  Morals,"  etc.,  etc. 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "First  Principles,"  " Principles  of  Psychology,"  and 
"  Principles  of  Sociology;"  Fiske's  "  Cosmic  Philosophy  "  ;  Wal- 
lace's "Darwinism"  ;  Thompson's  "A  System  of  Psychology"  ; 
Huxley  and  Wace's  "Christianity  and  Agnosticism";  Abbot's 
"Scientific  Theism,"  and  "  The  Philosophy  of  Free  Religion,"  in 
The  New  Ideal;  Case's  "Physical  Realism"  ;  Carus's  "Fun- 
damental Problems"  ;  W.  B.  Carpenter's  "Nature  and  Man." 

(2) 


THE    SCOPE   AND    PRINCIPLES    OF    THE 
EVOLUTION     PHILOSOPHY.* 


Since  the  interesting  biological  lectures  of  our  last 
year's  course  were  delivered,  a  noteworthy  contribution  has 
been  made  to  that  department  of  evolutionary  thought,  by 
the  publication  of  Alfred  Russel  Wallace's  "  Darwinism  : 
An  Exposition  of  the  Theory  of  Natural  Selection,  with 
some  of  its  Applications."  A  co-discoverer  with  Charles 
Darwin  of  the  law  of  Natural  Selection,  Mr.  Wallace  re- 
sembles him  as  a  writer  in  the  simplicity  and  lucidity  of 
his  style  ;  and  the  wealth  of  facts  with  which  he  has  illus- 
trated his  discussion  of  the  subject,  indicating  the  utmost 
patience  and  thoroughness  of  research,  is  nowhere  equaled 
save  in  those  epoch-making  books  which  indicated  Darwin 
as  the  foremost  naturalist  of  his  own,  or,  perhaps  it  would 
not  be  too  much  to  say,  of  any  time. 

Writing  thirty  years  after  the  publication  of  "The 
Origin  of  Species,"  and  in  the  light  of  all  the  objections 
which  have  been  brought  against  the  theory  of  Natural 
Selection,  Mr.  Wallace  declares  that  Darwin  "  did  his  work 
so  well  that  '  descent  with  modification '  is  now  universally 
accepted  in  the  organic  world ;  and  the  rising  genera- 
tion of  naturalists  can  hardly  realize  the  novelty  of  this 
idea,  or  that  their  fathers  considered  it  a  scientific  heresy 
to  be  condemned  rather  than  seriously  discussed."  In  the 
defense  of  "Natural  Selection"  as  the  fundamental  law  of 
biological  evolution,  Mr.  Wallace  is  even  more  of  a  Dar- 
winian than  Darwin  himself — showing,  it  would  seem  con- 
clusively, that  many  of  those  variations  which  Darwin 
attributed  to  sexual  selection,  can  be  explained  by  natural 
selection,  including  nearly  all  those  brilliant  colors  in  the 
ornamentation  of  male  birds  and  animals  which  Darwin 
assigned  to  the  choice  or  preference  of  the  female. 

Mr.  Wallace  also  trenchantly  criticises  the  supposed  law 
of  use  and  disuse  as  affecting  biological  evolution, —  the  so- 
called    "  Lamarckian  factor,"  —  the    importance  of   which 

*  CoPYKiGiiT,  1889,  by  JaUues  H.  West. 


4  The  Scope  and  JPrmcljjles 

was  explicitly  admitted  by  Darwin,  though  that  fact  is 
often  ignored  by  his  critics,  and  has  been  emphasized  by 
Mr.  Spencer  in  his  "  Factors  of  Organic  Evolution,"  as 
well  as  by  Prof.  Cope,  Dr.  Eaymond,  and  the  American 
School  of  Evolutionists  generally.  "  There  is  now  much 
reason,"  Mr.  Wallace  declares,  "to  believe  that  the  sup- 
posed inheritance  of  acquired  modifications  —  that  is,  of 
the  effects  of  use  and  disuse,  or  of  the  direct  influence  of 
the  environment  —  is  not  a  fact,  and  if  so,  the  very  foun- 
dation is  taken  away  from  the  whole  class  of  objections  on 
which  such  stress  is  now  laid."  Such  effects,  for  exam- 
ple, as  the  diminished  jaw  in  civilized  man,  and  the  dimi- 
nution of  the  muscles  used  in  closing  the  jaw  in  case  of 
pet  dogs  which  are  fed  on  soft  food,  are  wholly  accounted 
for  by  the  simple  fact  of  the  withdrawal  of  natural  selec- 
tion in  keeping  up  the  parts  in  question  to  their  full 
dimensions,  in  connection  with  Mr,  Galton's  law  of  "Re- 
gression toward  Mediocrity,"  whereby,  it  has  been  been 
proved  experimentally,  there  is  a  tendency  of  organs  which 
have  been  increased  by  natural  selection,  to  revert  to  a 
mean  or  average  size,  whenever  the  stress  of  circumstances 
which  compelled  the  operation  of  this  law  is  removed. 
Investigating  the  supposed  effects  of  use  and  disuse  in 
wild  animals,  Mr.  Wallace  notes  the  circumstance  that 
"  the  very  fact  of  use,  in  a  wild  state,  implies  utilitij,  and 
utility  is  the  constant  subject  for  the  action  of  natviral 
.selection;  while  among  domestic  animals  those  parts  which 
are  exceptionally  used  are  so  used  in  the  service  of  man, 
and  thus  become  the  subjects  of  artificial  selection." 
"  There  are  no  cases  among  wild  animals,"  he  says,  "  which 
may  not  be  better  explained  by  variation  and  natural  selec- 
tion," than  by  the  law  of  use  or  disuse.  He  quotes  Gal- 
ton,  and  Prof.  Weismann  in  his  recently  published  "  Essays 
on  Heredity," — two  of  the  most  careful  students  of  tliis 
subject,  —  in  support  of  the  non-heredity  of  acquired 
variations ;  and  on  the  whole  makes  an  exceedingly  strong 
argument  in  favor  of  natural  selection  as  the  great  and 
controlling  factor  in  organic  evolution.  Prof.  Cope  and  the 
American  evolutionists,  he  says,  "have  introduced  theoret- 
ical conceptions  which  have  not  yet  been  tested  by  experi- 
ments or  facts,  as  well  as  metaphysical  conceptions  which 
are  incapable  of  proof.  And  when  they  come  to  illustrate 
these  views  by  an  appeal  J;o  palaeontology  or  morphology. 


of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  5 

■we  find  that  a  far  simpler  and  more  complete  explanation  of 
the  facts  is  afforded  by  the  established  principles  of  vari- 
ation and  natural  selection."  Mr,  Wallace's  general  conclu- 
sion is  that  all  other  laws  and  factors  in  organic  evolution 
"must  have  operated  in  entire  subordination  to  the  law  of 
natural  selection," — a  conclusion  which  he  supports  by 
logical  argument  from  such  a  wealth  of  accumulated  facts, 
that  it  will  be  extremely  difficult  for  his  opponents  success- 
fully to  combat  his  views. 

While  asserting  the  continuity  of  man's  progress  from 
the  brute,  and  of  the  higher  animals  from  the  protoplasmic 
cell,  Mr.  Wallace  believes  that  at  three  definite  stages  in 
the  progress  of  organic  evolution  there  has  been  an  in- 
troduction of  new  causes,  not  involved  in  nor  evolved 
from  the  forces  previously  operating.  These  are,  1st.,  the 
change  from  inorganic  to  organic  life,  otherwise  involved 
in  the  conception  of  spontaneous  generation ;  2ud,  the  in- 
troduction of  sensation  or  consciousness,  which  "is  still 
more  marvelous,  still  more  completely  beyond  all  possi- 
bility of  explanation  by  matter,  its  laws  and  forces  " ;  and, 
3rd,  the  development  of  certain  noble  characteristics  and 
faculties  in  man,  as,  for  example,  his  moral  and  intellectual 
nature,  and  the  mathematical,  artistic  and  musical  facul- 
ties, which  differentiate  him  from  the  brute  animals,  indi- 
cate the  reality  of  a  spiritual  universe,  and  prophetically 
assure  an  immortal  life  for  the  spiritual  nature  of  man. 

His  peculiar  views  on  these  topics  will  probably  appear 
more  or  less  reasonable  to  different  persons  according  to 
their  temperamental  tendencies  and  educational  bias ;  but 
no  one,  I  think,  can  lay  down  this  book  without  a  convic- 
tion of  the  great  ability  and  transparent  sincerity  of  its 
author,  of  its  pre-eminent  value  as  a  contribution  to  the 
general  literature  of  evolution,  and  of  the  weight  of  its 
arguments  in  defense  of  Natural  Selection  as  a  controlling 
factor  in  organic  development.* 

Evolution  may  be  true,  in  the  field  of  biology,  it  vcmy 
yet  be  said,  but  what  of  it  ?  Man  may  be  the  descendant 
of  an  anthropoid  ape,  "probably  arboreal  in  its  habits," 


*Note  should  also  be  made  of  Prof.  Angelo  Heilprin's  recently  published 
book  on  "The  Bermuda  Islands,"  which  contains  a  careful  study  ot  the  lor- 
mation  of  coral  reefs,  contirming  Darwin's  theories  on  this  subject,  which 
some  recent  writers  have  l)rought  in  question.  The  tendency  of  the  most 
recent  studies  has  unqtiestionably  been  to  strengthen  the  high  regard  in 
which  Darwin  has  been  justly  held  as  a  careful,  conscientious  investigator  and 
safe  theorizer  in  the  field  of  evolutionary  research. 


6  The  Sco2ye  and  Principles 

though  of  this  we  are  not  convinced ;  but  why  is  it  neces- 
sary to  announce  the  fact  ?  Any  one  who  traces  his  ances- 
try back  far  enough,  will  probably  discover  relationships  of 
which  he  will  not  be  particularly  proud  —  but  he  does  not 
therefore  find  it  necessary  to  bruit  the  matter  abroad,  so  to 
speak, —  to  publish  it  upon  the  housetops.  Truth  is  a 
good  thing,  indeed,  but  there  are  times  when  silence  is 
golden  and  speech  is  leaden  —  when  discretion  in  speech  is 
the  better  part  of  intellectual  valor.  What  moral  or  relig- 
ious end  can  possibly  be  attained  by  the  public  proclama- 
tion of  a  belief  in  Evolution  ?  Such  are  the  comments,  no 
doubt,  of  some  of  the  self-constituted  critics  of  the  work 
of  this  Association.  Another  sort  of  criticism  of  certain 
phases  of  evolutionary  thought  is  often  heard  from  those 
who  are  quite  ready  to  declare  themselves  converts  to  the 
doctrine  in  its  purely  physical  and  biological  aspects :  Evo- 
lution is  only  a  method,  these  critics  declare ;  it  is  not  a 
philosophy,  it  is  not  a  religion ;  —  the  great  problems  of 
ethics,  of  metaphysics,  of  life,  what  have  these  to  do  with 
the  nebular  hypothesis,  the  origin  of  species  by  natural  se- 
lection, or  the  descent  of  man  from  lower  forms  of  life  ? 

It  should  be  sufficient,  perhaps,  to  remind  intelligent 
people  that  if  evolution  is  "  only  a  method,"  it  is,  so  far  as 
we  are  able  to  discover,  a  universal  method,  penetrating 
into  all  the  phenomenal  activities  of  nature  ;  explaining 
not  only  the  processes  whereby  suns  and  worlds  have  come 
into  being,  and  the  varied  and  bountiful  forms  of  life  have 
successively  appeared  upon  the  earth,  but  also  how  the  sev- 
eral faculties  of  the  mind  have  grown  out  of  the  simplest 
form  of  conscious  apprehension,  how  the  special  senses 
have  been  developed,  how  individuals  have  been  impelled 
to  combine,  forming  the  complex  organizations  into  which 
our  civilized  societies  are  divided,  how  governmental  forms 
have  evolved  and  the  institutions  of  religion  have  come  into 
being  —  liow  religion  itself,  indeed,  and  that  sense  of  ob- 
ligation which  constitutes  the  foundation  of  man's  moral 
nature,  have  arisen  by  processes  entirely  orderly  and  nat- 
ural, out  of  the  interaction  between  certain  primitive 
instincts  and  tendencies  of  the  human  mind,  and  the  envi- 
roning conditions  under  which  they  have  found  expression. 

If  we  are  right  in  assuming,  with  Spencer  and  Fiske  and 
other  great  leaders  in  this  new  movement  of  thoiight, 
that  evolution  is  thus  practically  illimitable  in  its  range 


of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  7 

throughout  the  universe  of  physical  and  mental  phenomena, 
then  indeed  must  we  confess  that  it  is  not  merely  a  method 
whereby  the  myriad  forms  of  organic  life  have  come  into 
being  —  it  is  a  method  which  searches  into  the  deeper 
problems  of  religion  and  philosophy,  compelling  a  recon- 
sideration of  old  conclusions  —  a  reconstruction  of  many 
of  their  fundamental  conceptions.  To  speak  of  "  the  phi- 
losophy of  Evolution,"  therefore,  is  not  without  warrant. 
We  may  well  term  it,  with  John  Fiske,  a  '<  cosmic  phi- 
losophy," since  it  is  thus  universal  in  its  scope  and  applica- 
tion; or  with  Mr.  Spencer,  a  "synthetic  philosophy," 
since,  like  the  founder  of  Christianity,  it  comes  not  to 
destroy  but  to  fulfill,  discovering  the  measure  of  truth 
which  resides  in  each  antagonistic  system,  and  by  a  new 
and  deeper  synthesis  combining  them  into  a  harmonious 
and  perfect  whole. 

If  it  should  appear  to  some  superficial  thinkers  that  the 
advocates  of  this  philosophy  unnecessarily  antagonize  the 
creeds  and  methods  of  the  prevalent  religious  faith, — 
ideas  and  conceptions  that  by  many  are  deemed  sacred, — 
the  reply  must  be  that  the  truth  is  more  sacred  than  any 
existing  institution,  or  theological  or  cosmological  concep- 
tion, however  venerable.  In  the  language  of  Emerson, 
"  Nothing  at  last  is  sacred  but  the  integrity  of  your  own 
mind."  There  is  an  ethics  of  the  intellect  which  imposes 
upon  every  reverent  thinker  the  obligation  to  follow  abso- 
lutely the  dictates  of  his  enlightened  reason,  and  frankly 
to  confess  his  innermost  convictions.  In  the  noble  passage 
with  which  Mr.  Spencer  concludes  the  first  part  of  his 
"  First  Principles  of  Philosophy,"  he  says  : 

"  Whoever  hesitates  to  utter  that  which  he  thinks  the 
highest  truth,  lest  it  should  be  too  much  in»advance  of  the 
time,  may  reassure  himself  by  looking  at  his  acts  from  an 
impersonal  point  of  view.  Let  him  duly  recognize  the 
fact  that  opinion  is  the  agency  through  which  character 
adapts  external  arrangements  to  itself  —  that  his  opinion 
rightly  forms  a  part  of  this  agency  —  is  a  unit  of  force, 
constituting,  with  other  such  units,  the  general  power 
which  works  out  social  changes ;  and  he  will  perceive  tliat 
he  may  properly  give  utterance  to  his  innermost  convic- 
tion :  leaving  it  to  produce  what  effect  it  may.  ,  .  .  He 
must  remember  that,  while  he  is  a  descendant  of  the  past, 
he  is  a  parent  of  the  future ;  and  that  his  thoughts  are  as 


8  The  iScope  and  Principles 

children  born  to  him,  which  he  may  not  carelessly  let  die. 
He,  like  every  otlier  man,  may  properly  consider  himself 
as  one  of  the  myriad  agencies  through  whom  works  the 
Unknown  Cause  ;  and  when  the  Unknown  Canse  produces 
in  him  a  certain  belief,  he  is  thereby  authorized  to  profess 
and  act  out  that  belief.  For,  to  render  in  their  highest 
sense  the  words  of  the  poet,  — 

'  .  .  .  Nature  is  made  better  by  no  mean, 
But  Nature  makes  that  mean  ;  over  that  art 
Which  you  say  adds  to  Nature,  is  an  art 
That  Nature  makes.' 

"Xot  as  adventitious,  therefore,  will  the  wise  man  re- 
gard the  faith  that  is  in  him.  The  highest  truth  he  sees  he 
will  fearlessly  utter;  knowing  that,  let  what  may  come  of 
it,  he  is  thus  playing  his  right  part  in  the  world ;  —  know- 
ing that  if  he  can  effect  the  change  he  aims  at  —  well :  if 
not, —  well  also,  though  not  so  well."  * 

This  passage  is  noteworthy  not  only  for  the  nobility  of 
its  thought  and  the  transparent  clearness  of  its  diction, 
but  also  because  it  suggests  some  of  the  foremost  questions 
involved  in  the  discussion  of  the  evolution  philosophy.  In 
naming  the  Power  which  works  in  the  thoughts  of  men  as 
well  as  in  the  processes  of  external  Nature,  ''the  Unknown 
Cause,"  Mr.  Spencer  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  funda- 
mental problem  of  the  nature  of  our  knowledge  —  and 
with  that  mental  attitude  which  is  popularly  termed  Agnos- 
ticism, the  hete-noire  of  this  philosophy  in  the  minds  of  its 
orthodox  critics,  as  well  as  those  of  the  extreme  radical  or 
materialistic  school  of  thought.  In  the  misconception  and 
denunciation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  relativity  of  knowl- 
edge which  constitutes  the  philosophical  breastwork  of  the 
agnostic's  posi^on,  extremes  meet,  and  the  Catholic  Mal- 
lock,  the  anti-Christian  realist  Francis  Ellingwood  Abbot, 
and  the  materialist,  ably  represented  last  season  on  this 
I)latform  by  Mr.  Starr  H.  Nichols,t  clasp  hands,  and  mingle 
their  otherwise  inharmonious  voices.  Leaving  the  fuller 
explanation  and  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  the  rela- 
tivity of  knowledge  to  my  able  successor  in  this  course, 
I  shall  endeavor  hereafter  briefly  to  define  philosophical 
agnosticism ;  to  show  that  its  attitude  is  neither  idealistic, 
strictly  speaking,  nor  irreligious  ;  that  it  is  not  inconsistent 

•First  Principles,  p.  123. 

■fThe  Philosophy  of  Evolution,  Evolution  Essays,  pp.  343-3G1. 


of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  9 

with  a  realistic  conception  of  the  external  world,  nor  with 
the  obligation  to  use  and  trust  those  high  faculties  of 
intellect  and  reason  which  constitute  the  distinguishing 
features  of  the  mind  of  man  —  that  in  every  department 
of  scientific,  historical  and  true  philosophic  investigation, 
indeed,  it  is  consistent  and  coincident  with  the  meta-gnos- 
ticism  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Skilton.  *  In  speaking  of  indi- 
vidual opinion  as  a  unit  of  that  "general  power  which 
works  out  social  changes,"  Mr.  Spencer  places  uppermost 
as  the  goal  of  intelligent  thought  and  action,  a  practical 
rather  than  a  merely  speculative  purpose  —  thereby  turn- 
ing our  attention  to  the  field  of  practical  ethics  which  is 
involved  in  the  discussion  of  sociological  evolution.  To  a 
further  consideration  of  the  relations  of  the  evolution 
philosophy  to  this  topic,  foremost  at  the  present  day  in  the 
arena  of  discussion  and  of  practical  statesmanship,  I  shall 
ask  your  thovightful  attention  during  the  concluding  por- 
tion of  my  paper. 

What,  then,  let  us  ask  at  the  outset,  is  an  Agnostic  ? 
What  is  philoso})hical  agnosticism  ?  The  word,  as  is  well- 
known,  was  first  introduced  into  English  usage  by  Prof. 
Huxley,  and  was  derived  by  him  from  Paxil's  designation 
of  the  "Agnostic"  or  unknown  God,  Avhose  altar  was 
established  by  the  pious  Athenians.  As  Prof.  Huxley 
himself  describes  its  meaning  and  origin,  it  arose  from  a 
conviction  produced  by  his  early  reading  of  Sir  William 
Hamilton's  essay  "  On  the  Philosophy  of  the  Uncondi- 
tioned," strengthened  by  subsequent  reflection  and  the 
study  of  Hume  and  Kant.  Of  the  essay  of  Sir  William 
Hamilton,  Prof.  Huxley  declares  :  "  It  stamped  upon  my 
mind  the  strong  conviction  that,  on  even  the  most  solemn 
and  important  of  questions,  men  are  apt  to  take  cunning 
phrases  for  answers ;  and  that  the  limitation  of  our  facul- 
ties, in  a  great  number  of  cases,  renders  real  answers  to 
those  questions  not  merely  actually  impossible,  but  theo- 
retically inconceivable."  f  As  regards  the  validity  of  spec- 
ulative conclusions,  he  was  therefore  forced  to  adopt  the 
conviction  thus  stated  by  Kant  in  his  "Critique  of  Pure 
Reason "  :  "  The  greatest  and  perhaps  the  sole  use  of  all 
philosophy  of  pure  reason  is,  after  all,  merely  negative, 
since  it  serves  not  as  an  organon  for  the  enlargement  [of 

*  The  Evolution  of  Society,  Evolution  Essays,  pp.  225-227. 
tChiistianity  and  Agnosticism,  Huxley- Wace  Controversy. 


10  The  Scope  and  Priyiciples 

knowledge,]  but  as  a  discipline  for  its  delimitation,  and 
instead  of  discovering  truth,  has  only  the  modest  merit  of 
preventing  error."  In  other  words,  the  only  practical  re- 
sult of  metaphysical  studies  is  to  convince  the  unbiased 
student  that  the  human  mind  is  incapable  of  grasping 
ontological  facts.  In  the  clearer  language  of  Mr.  Spencer, 
'^  all  our  knowledge  is  relative."  We  can  know  nothing  of 
the  external  universe  —  nothing  even  of  the  nature  of  our 
own  bodies  and  of  our  own  minds  —  save  as  they  are 
directly  related  to  our  knowing  faculties.  Involved  in  this 
phenomenal  knowledge,  however,  and  accompanying  it  at 
every  step,  we  have  the  inexpugnable  testimony  of  our 
reason  and  consciousness  that  behind  the  world  of  phe- 
nomena there  exists  an  Infinite  and  Eternal  Energy  which 
is  the  source  and  efficient  cause  of  all  phenomena,  both 
physical  and  mental.  As  thus  stated,  the  doctrine  seems 
almost  a  truism.  How,  indeed,  can  it  be  possible  that  man 
should  know  anything  which  is  wholly  out  of  relation  to 
his  intellectual  faculties  ?  Nay,  of  what  use  or  interest  to 
him  would  such  knowledge  be  if  it  were  possible  to  attain 
it  ?  And  on  the  other  hand,  how  is  it  possible  for  him 
to  view  the  orderly  procession  of  phenomena  —  any  single 
phenomenon,  indeed  —  without  conceiving  it  as  a  manifes- 
tation of  immanent  causal  energy  ?  A  sense  of  depend- 
ence upon  a  Power  which  is  greater  than  our  luiman 
capacity  of  comprehension  —  an  apprehension  of  our  own 
finitude  and  of  that  of  the  phenomenal  universe,  in  the 
presence  of  this  Power  —  is  indeed  as  necessary  to  supply 
the  demands  of  our  intellectual  as  of  our  emotional  and 
religious  nature.  If  we  think  at  all,  we  cannot  escape 
from  the  implication  involved  in  this  belief.  It  rebukes 
our  intellectual  conceits,  and  toadies  with  an  infinite  awe 
and  reverence  every  discovered  beauty,  every  hidden  mys- 
tery, the  existence  of  which  is  forced  upon  us  by  the  con- 
templation of  the  world  of  phenomena.  In  the  very  fact 
that  the  depths  of  this  mystery  can  never  be  sounded  by 
the  finite  plummets  of  our  thought,  lies  its  capacity  to  for- 
ever satisfy  the  artistic,  the  poetic,  the  religious  demands 
of  our  nature.  "  Who  by  searching  can  find  out  (xod  ? 
Who  can  know  the  Almighty  to  perfection  ? "  Greater 
than  any  object  of  our  definite  knowledge  is  the  human 
mind  itself.  The  noblest  product  of  evolution,  it  bows  be- 
fore no  mere  conception  of  the  phenomenal  universe,  even 


of  the  Evolution  Flt'dosopJiij.  11 

though  infinitely  extended  in  time  and  space.  -It  yields 
supreme  allegiance,  reverence  and  worship  only  to  that 
efficient  Cause  which  underlies  the  world  of  phenomena, 
both  mental  and  material,  which  dwells  alike  in  star  and 
flower,  in  the  wonders  of  the  physical  organism,  in  the 
heights  of  thought  and  in  the  infinite  depth  of  love,  touch- 
ing all  that  we  see  and  all  that  we  know  with  a  tender 
halo  of  unsearchable  mystery.  Like  the  purple  haze  in 
which  twilight  robes  the  distant  mountain-summits,  fading 
away  into  the  infinite  depths  of  the  stellar  spaces,  and 
softening  the  harsh  outlines  of  rock  and  forest  into  lines 
of  perfect  beauty, —  so  the  apprehension  of  the  Unknowable 
Cause  of  phenomena  mellows  the  sharp  boundaries  and 
limitations  of  the  known,  softens  the  crude  details  of  our 
human  picture,  and  gives  it  a  symmetry  and  unity  which 
satisfy  the  aesthetic  longing,  while  it  also  meets  the  exi- 
gent demands  of  intellect  and  reason. 

*'  The  conviction  that  human  intelligence  is  incapable  of 
absokite  knowledge,"  says  Mr.  Spencer,  "is  one  that  has 
slowly  been  gaining  ground  as  civilization  has  advanced. 
Each  new  ontological  theory,  from  time  to  time  propounded 
in  lieu  of  other  ones  shown  to  be  untenable,  has  been  fol- 
lowed by  a  new  criticism  leading  to  anew  scepticism."* 
Whether  Ave  investigate  the  product  of  thought  or  the  pro- 
cess of  thought,  this  conviction  is  forced  anew  upon  our 
minds.  Analyzing  the  nature  of  the  simplest  product  of 
our  knowledge,  we  find  that  we  know  it  only  by  a  process 
of  classification  with  something  already  known.  The 
botanist  who  discovers  a  new  flower  studies  its  structure, 
investigates  its  method  of  growth,  and  finally  assigns  it  to 
its  proper  order  and  class  with  others  which  he  knows,  and 
thus  determines  its  true  character.  But  the  Infinite  and 
Absolute,  it  is  evident,  cannot  be  thus  classified.  There 
can  be  but  one  Infinite ;  our  knowledge  of  its  essential 
nature  and  attribxites  must  be  forever  negative.  The  nat- 
ure of  life  and  of  knowledge  alike  testify  to  the  fact  that 
we  can  know  only  relations.  "Life  in  all  its  manifesta- 
tions, inclusive  of  intelligence  in  its  highest  forms,  con- 
sists in  the  continuous  adjustment  of  inner  relations  to 
outer  relations."  t  "Every  act  of  knowing  is  the  forma- 
tion of  a  relation  in  consciousness  parallel  to  a  relation  in 
the  environment."     Beneath  this  vital  tissue  of   sequences 

♦First  Principles  tlbitl. 


12  TJie  Scoj^e  and  Principles 

and  coexistences  we  cannot  penetrate.  The  very  concep- 
tion of  relativity,  however,  carries  with  it  the  knowledge 
of  the  Absolute  as  existing,  and  as  involved  in  all  phenom- 
enal processes.  As  we  cannot  have  a  shadow  without 
light,  so  we  cannot  have  the  relative  without  the  Absolute  : 
the  existence  of  the  one  is  proof  positive  of  the  existence 
of  the  other.  And  since  the  relations  which  we  know  are 
constant,  since  the  law  of  cause  and  effect  is  universally 
operative  throughout  the  world  of  phenomena,  our  knowl- 
edge, though  relational,  is  real — as  real  to  us  as  would  be 
our  knowledge  of  the  thing  in  itself,  were  such  knowledge 
attainable.  In  knowing  phenomena  we  do  know  the  nou- 
menon  as  it  is  related  to  us. 

The  materialistic  critic  of  the  evolution-philosophy 
comes  to  us,  indeed,  with  the  assumption  that  the  universe 
is  just  what  we  see  it  to  be,  and  nothing  else.  As  it  is  in 
sense-perception,  so  it  is  in  its  essential  nature.  Mind 
itself  is  material.  "The  brain  secretes  thought  as  the 
liver  secretes  bile  "  —  thought  itself  is  a  material  product. 
We  must  assume  something,  he  says :  why  not  assume  that 
the  testimony  of  our  senses  is  iinal  and  conclusive  ?  It  is 
evident,  however,  that  this  position  of  the  materialist  is 
reached  not  by  a  process  of  thought,  but  by  the  negation 
of  thought.  lie  is  either  incapable  of  duly  considering 
the  problems  involved  in  this  discussion,  or  else  he  delib- 
erately refuses  to  consider  them,  denouncing  them  as  futile 
and  unprofitable  speculations.  The  evolutionist,  however, 
assumes  nothing,  except  the  actual  facts  of  experience;  his 
ultimate  criterion  of  truth  is  the  inability  to  conceive  the 
opposite  of  the  proposition  under  discussion.  The  "fun- 
damental assum})tion  "  of  the  materialist  is  neither  logical 
nor  scientific  —  it  is  essentially  a  metaphysical  assumption, 
and  illustrates  a  very  crude  and  primitive  sort  of  meta- 
physics at  that.  The  evolutionist  indulges  in  no  assump- 
tions, falls  back  on  no  "  first  princi])les,"  or  "  axiomatic 
truths,"  the  origin  and  history  of  which  he  cannot  trace 
in  the  experience  of  the  race.  Every  conscious  experience 
constitutes  a  unit  of  knowledge,  and  science  is  simply  the 
orderly  classification  and  interpretation  of  such  experi- 
ences. To  science,  therefore,  the  evoh;tionist  appeals  — 
not  to  metaphysics  —  and  by  science  is  the  position  of  the 
materialist  undermined  and  overthrown. 

Consider,  for  example,  what  science  teaches  us  of  the 


of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  13 

nature  of  sense-perception.  That  phenomenon  which  our 
minds  recognize  as  sound,  science  declares  to  be  objectively 
certain  vibrations  or  waves  produced  in  the  atmospheric 
medium.  Between  the  two  orders  of  phenomena,  the  ex- 
ternal fact  and  the  subjective  perception  of  it,  there  is  no 
relation  of  identity  —  only  one  of  concomitance.  One  is 
subjective,  wholly, —  the  other  objective;  one  is  mental, 
the  other  material.  Without  an  ear,  a  recipient  brain  and 
a  conscious  mind,  the  atmospheric  vibration  might  go  on 
forever,  and  there  would  be  no  phenomena  of  sound.  The 
same  principle  holds  good  also  in  sight.  That  which  to 
our  minds  appears  as  color,  externally  is  the  inconceiv- 
ably rapid  vibration  of  the  intangible  ether  which  sur- 
rounds and  penetrates  the  atmospheric  envelope  of  the 
globe.  Without  the  eye,  the  recipient  brain,  and  the  subtle 
synthesis  of  thought,  the  phenomenon  of  vision  were 
impossible.*  And  so  of  the  other  special  senses.  But  what 
we  call  matter  is  inseparable  from  these  sense-perceptions, 
—  it  is  made  up  of  them.  Take  away  what  we  know  as 
form  and  weight  and  color  and  extension,  and  nothing 
material  remains.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  the 
Unknown  Reality  which  caused  in  us  these  sensations  has 
ceased  to  exist.  As  firmly  as  we  believe  in  our  own  exist- 
ence, do  we  believe  in  that  of  a  Keality  external  to  our- 
selves, and  by  precisely  the  same  warrant  —  the  unthink- 
ableness  of  the  contrary  proposition.  To  beings  constituted 
differently  from  ourselves,  however,  this  reality  might  pre- 
sent an  appearance  totally  distinct  from  that  which  we 
know  as  matter.  To  the  simplest  form  of  organism,  for 
example,  whose  consciousness  is  limited  to  a  single  undif- 
ferentiated mode  of  sense  perception,  those  affections  of 
matter  which  we  know  as  color,  taste,  odor,  sound,  exten- 
sion, would  be  wholly  incomprehensible.  The  limitation 
of  our  own  senses,  both  in  number  and  in  range,  is  entirely 
arbitrary.!   It  is  quite  conceivable  that  there  may  be  beings 


♦Maxwell's  new  majrnetic  theory  of  light  emphasizes  still  more  strongly  the 
principle  here  laid  down. 

tThe  president  of  tlie  British  Association,  Professor  Flower,  indorses  Sir 
John  Lubbock's  idea  that  there  may  be  "fifty  other  senses  as  different  from 
ours  as  sound  is  from  sight  ;  and  even  within  the  boundaries  of  our  own 
senses  there  may  be  endless  sounds  which  we  cannot  hear,  and  colors  as  dif- 
ferent as  red  from  green  of  which  we  have  no  conception.  These  and  a  thou- 
sand other  questions  remain  for  solution.  The  familiar  world  which  surrounds 
us  may  be  a  totally  different  place  to  other  animals.  To  them  It  may  be 
full  of  music  which  we  cannot  hear,  of  color  which  we  cannot  see,  of  sensa- 
tions which  we  cannot  conceive." 


14  The  Scope  and  Principles 

on  some  other  planet,  like  the  resident  of  Saturn  imagined 
in  the  satire  of  Voltaire,  with  seventy  senses  instead  of 
five  —  to  whom  the  universe  would  present  an  appearance 
quite  unfamiliar  and  incomprehensible  to  our  understand- 
ing. To  the  old  and  ingenious  play  upon  words  involved 
in  the  familiar  and  brief  philosophical  catechism:  "What 
is  Matter  ?  Never  mind.  What  is  Mind  ?  No  matter. 
What  is  the  nature  of  the  soul  ?  It  is  perfectly  imma- 
terial,"—  science  and  evolution,  therefore,  enter  an  em- 
phatic protest.  Matter,  it  declares,  is  the  Unknowable 
Reality  as  reflected  in  mind  through  the  mediation  of  the 
senses.  Mind  is  that  Reality  as  it  appears  directly  in  the 
operations  of  consciousness.  It  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  insep- 
arable from  material  conditions  ;  but  it  is  a  false  logic  which 
therefore  infers  that  it  is  itself  material.  You  can  neither 
see,  feel,  smell,  taste,  weigh,  measure,  nor  chemically  de- 
compose a  thought.  It  responds  to  no  material  tests.  Yet 
in  it  lies  a  power  greater  than  that  of  the  Archimedean 
lever  —  a  power  sufficient  to  move  the  world.  Of  a  soul 
distinct  from  mind  and  form,  science  knows  absolutely 
nothing ;  but  since  it  also  knows  nothing  of  the  nature  of 
the  Absolute  Reality  of  which  mind  and  form  are  manifes- 
tations, no  divine  possibility  is  slain  by  this  admission. 
Materialism  and  Idealism  both  err  in  assuming  that  knowl- 
edge is  absolute  instead  of  relative.  Both  declare  that  the 
universe  is  just  what  it  appears  to  be  to  our  senses  —  re- 
fusing, like  the  Electoral  Commission,  to  "  go  behind  the 
returns  "  and  investigate  the  actual  character  of  the  suf- 
frage. Materialism  assumes  that  matter  is  the  mould  of 
consciousness  ;  Idealism,  that  consciousness  is  the  mould 
of  matter.  The  truth  lies  between  the  two  extremes,  in- 
cluding what  is  true  in  both. 

The  error  of  Materialism  is  cruder  and  more  easily 
refuted  than  that  of  Idealism  ;  in  view  of  the  testimony  of 
science  as  to  the  nature  of  our  sense-perception,  it  has  not 
a  foot  to  stand  upon.  In  declaring  that  the  Reality  which 
is  external  to  our  consciousness  is  identical  and  cotermi- 
nous  with  that  which  we  know  as  matter,  it  bases  its  whole 
philosophy  on  an  unverified  and  unverifiable  assumption 
which  is  contradicted  by  the  entire  testimony  of  science. 
Rut  in  assuming  that  there  is  no  Absolute  Reality  external 
to  consciousness.  Idealism  is  equally  metaphysical  and  un- 
scientific.    The  question  in  reality  is  simply  one  of  physi- 


of  the  Evolution  Plulosojjhy.  15 

ology  —  of  a  scientific  understanding  of  the  nature  of  sense- 
perception;  there  is  nothing  speculative  or  metaphysical 
about  it,  whatsoever. 

The  Materialist's  position  in  philosophy  reminds  one  of 
certain  crude  attempts  at  art,  which,  ignoring  all  sense  of 
perspective,  and  disregarding  the  beautiful  blending  of 
lights  and  shadows  as  we  see  them  in  tlie  natural  land- 
scape, illustrates  a  sort  of  sharply-defined  wooden  realism, 
which  is  as  distressing  to  the  cultivated  eye  as  it  is  thor- 
oughly materialistic  in  its  conception  and  execution. 

The  Ided,list's  position,  on  the  contrary,  reminds  one  of 
an  artist  who  should  eschew  the  use  of  vulgar  material 
paint,  and  attempt  to  dip  his  pencil  in  the  prismatic  hues 
of  the  rainbow.  Of  the  two,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
materialistic  painter  would  produce  something,  though  it 
would  not  resemble  anything  that  we  ever  see  in  Xature  ; 
while  the  idealist  would  produce  nothing,  external  to  his 
own  imagination.* 

In  the  language  of  Professor  Fiske  : 

"  Our  conclusion  is  simply  this,  that  no  theory  of  phe- 
nomena, external  or  internal,  can  be  framed  without  postu- 
lating an  Absolute  Existence  of  which  phenomena  are  the 
manifestations.  And  now  let  us  note  carefully  what 
follows.  We  cannot  identify  this  Absolute  Existence  with 
Mind,  since  what  we  know  as  Mind  is  a  series  of  phenom- 
enal manifestations  :  it  Avas  the  irrefragable  part  of  Hume's 
argument  that,  in  the  eye  of  science  as  in  the  eye  of  com- 
mon sense,  Mind  means  not  the  occult  reality  but  the  group 
of  phenomena  which  we  know  as  thoughts  and  feelings. 
Xor  can  we  identify  this  Absolute  Existence  with  Matter, 
since  what  we  know  as  Matter  is  a  series  of  phenomenal 
manifestations;  it  was  the  irrefragable  part  of  Berkeley's 
argument  that,  in  the  eye  of  science  as  in  the  eye  of  com- 
mon sense.  Matter  means  not  the  occult  reality  but  the 
group  of  sensations  which  we  know  as  extension,  resist- 
ance, color,  etc.  Absolute  Existence,  therefore,  —  the 
Reality  which  persists  independently  of  us,  and  of  which 
Mind  and  Matter  are  phenomenal  manifestations, —  cannot 
be  identified  either  with  ]Nrind  or  with  Matter.  Thus  is  Ma- 
terialism included  in  the  same  condemnation  with  Idealism,  "f 


♦That  which  the  Idealist  would  produce  in  his  imagination,  however,  might 
be  infinitely  finer  than  the  crude  ol)jective  production  of  the  Materialist. 

t  Cosmic  Philoso])hy,  Vol.  1.  The  Evolutionist  is  justified  in  affirming  "the 
eternity  and  uncreatability  of  matter,"   which  is  the  datum  on  which  the 


16  The  Scope  and  Prmr'qdes 

This,  then,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  evolution  philosophy, 
differing  as  widely  from  Materialism  on  the  one  hand  as  it 
does  from  Idealism  on  the  other :  a  conclusion,  moreover, 
to  which  we  are  compelled  by  an  irresistible  logic  from  no 
basis  of  metaphysical  assumption,  but  from  data  furnished 
by  science  itself,  reinforced  by  that  ultimate  criterion  of 
truth  which  bases  the  postulates  of  our  reasoning  upon  the 
inconceivability  of  their  opposites.  The  ultimate  data 
both  for  the  scientific  conclusions  upon  which  the  doctrine 
of  the  Unknowable  is  based,  and  for  the  laws  of  thought 
under  the  operation  of  which  it  is  logically  established,  are 
given  in  experience,  which  is  the  final  court  to  which  the 
evolutionist  appeals. 

Philosophical  agnosticism,  it  would  appear,  therefore,  is 
not  identical  with  materialism ;  it  is  not  a  cowardly  philoso- 
phy which  refuses  to  think ;  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  confound- 
ed with  that  crude  liberalism  which  dogmatically  denies  God 
and  immortality.  It  is  antagonistic  neither  to  religion  nor 
to  reason ;  it  is  antagonistic  only  to  those  unverifiable 
assumptions  dogmatically  asserted  as  assured  truths,  which 
transform  religion  into  superstition,  and  philosophic  reason- 
ing into  idle  dreaming  and  unfruitful  speculation.  The 
evolution  philosophy  affirms  the  duty  of  thinking  out  all 
intellectual  problems  to  their  ultimate  conclusions,  and 
asserts  the  competence  of  reason  to  deal  with  the  data 
given  in  experience,  throughout  the  entire  i)henomenal 
universe  of  matter  and  of  mlud.  The  universe  of  matter 
is  infinitely  knowable ;  the  realm  of  mind  is  infinitely 
knowable.  And  in  knowing  mind  and  matter  Ave  know 
the  Infinite  and  Eternal  Energy  on  which  they  depend,  in 
all  its  possible  relations  to  our  own  consciousness.  It  is 
the  duty  of  man  to  use  and  trust  his  intellectual  faculties 
in  the  investigation  of  all  matters  which  come  within  the 
.scojie  of  his  intellect  and  xmderstanding.  All  knowledge 
which  can  possibly  come  within  the  range  of  our  faculties 
is  open  to  us  ;  hence  there  is  no  real  loss  or  privation  in 
the  conception  that  the  mind  cannot  penetrate  behind  the 
veil  of  phenomena.     The  superficial  appearances  of  things, 


j)hysical  sciences  rest, —  meaninp;  thereby  that  "the  Reality  ■wljidi  persists 
iiKlenendently  of  us  "  is  constant  in  its  relations,  and  would  "always  manifest 
itselt  as  matter  to  a  beinjj  or  beings  possessed  of  a  consciousness  like  ours. 
The  idealistic  conception  that  material  olget^s  are  creations  of  the  individual 
consciousness,  and  have  no  substratum  of  real  existence  which  endures  when 
that  consciousness  is  no  longer  active,  is  of  course  inconsistent  with  all  forms 
of  scientific  realism,  and  is  therefore  rejected  by  the  evolutionist. 


of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  17 

when  tested  by  scientific  methods,  are  found  to  be  almost 
always  illusory  and  misleading.  The  perception  of  this 
fact  imposes  upon  us  the  sacred  obligation  to  penetrate 
beneath  the  surface  —  to  discover  the  causes  and  the  real 
relations  of  phenomena,  and  to  apply  the  knowledge  thus 
gained  to  the  advancement  and  betterment  of  human  life. 

Xo  realm  of  thought  is  thus  too  sacred  for  the  human 
mind  to  penetrate.  Into  the  nature,  origin  and  historical 
evolution  of  religion,  into  the  character  and  history  of 
man's  moral  sense,  into  the  realms  of  psychology  and  of 
the  physical  sciences,  the  reason  must  search  for  material 
wherewith  to  broaden  and  deepen  the  life  of  man,  and 
enlarge  the  area  of  human  happiness.  Nor  is  man  even 
forbidden  to  enter  into  the  lofty  regions  of  speculative 
thought :  only  he  is  bidden  to  remember  that,  in  exercising 
his  reason  upon  ontological  problems,  he  can  do  no  more 
than  to  create  symbols  and  imaginative  pictures  of  that 
which  is,  from  the  nature  of  things,  in  its  absolute  essence 
beyond  our  human  ken.  Something  of  gain  in  the  way  of 
mental  discipline  there  is,  doubtless,  in  climbing  occasion- 
ally into  the  thin  air  of  these  upper  regions  of  speculative 
research,  if  by  breathing  it  we  do  not  become  intoxicated 
with  the  conceit  that  we  are  thereby  acquainting  ourselves 
with  the  actual  verities  of  Absolute  and  Unconditioned 
Being.  Compared  with  the  results  of  research  into  the 
relations  of  phenomena,  conducted  according  to  the  scien- 
tific method,  metaphysical  speculation  has  proved  unpro- 
ductive, unprogressive,  and  sterile  of  practical  benefits  to 
man.  There  is  no  agreement  as  to  results  among  specula- 
tive thinkers.  The  schools  of  metaphysics  are  as  numer- 
ous as  theological  sects,  and  for  a  similar  reason :  there  is 
no  criterion  of  truth  which  all  agree  to  accept. 

It  is  evident  that  the  content  and  methods  of  religion  as 
reconstructed  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  science 
and  the  philosophy  of  evolution,  will  differ  essentially 
from  those  which  have  governed  and  still  largely  govern 
the  work  of  the  Christian  church.  Yet  in  so  differing  they 
will,  if  we  mistake  not,  come  nearer  to  the  essential 
thought  of  the  founder  of  Christianity.  Instead  of  urg- 
ing man  to  an  egoistic  strife  after  personal  salvation,  relig- 
ion thus  reconstructed  will  bid  him  so  enlarge  and  culti- 
vate his  own  nature  that  he  can  render  the  worthiest  and 
most  profitable  service  to  his  fellow-men.    Instead  of  basing 


18  The  Scope  and  Principles 

salvation  on  dogmatic  belief,  it  will  make  it  a  process 
of  moral  and  intellectual  growth  —  a  process  of  character- 
building.  Instead  of  repressing  the  intellect,  disparaging 
human  reason,  and  discouraging  free  thought,  it  will  bid 
man  remove  all  shackles  and  fetters  from  the  mind,  to 
think  deeply,  to  think  beyond  the  superficial  appearances 
of  things  —  to  breathe  the  keen  air  of  the  intellectual  life 
with  perfect  freedom,  finding  therein  an  inspiration  to  the 
noblest  living  and  most  devoted  service.  Instead  of  urg- 
ing man  to  an  emotional  spasm  of  repentance  for  wrong- 
doing, it  will  bid  him  carefully  ponder  upon  the  results  of 
his  actions,  note  the  instant  eifect  of  an  evil  deed  in  re- 
pressing fulness  of  life  —  in  atrophying  the  character  of 
the  doer.  It  will  show  him  that  the  penalty  of  wrong- 
doing is  intrinsic  instead  of  extrinsic  —  that  heaven  and 
hell  are  conditions  of  the  mind  rather  than  definite  local- 
ities in  space. 

It  will  regard  religion  as  a  life  rather  than  a  ceremonial 
or  a  creed.  It  will  inculcate  justice  in  place  of  charity. 
Instead  of  accepting  poverty,  ignorance  and  wretchedness 
as  ordained  of  God, —  as  conditions  of  life  to  be  accepted 
with  resignation  and  mitigated  in  some  small  degree  by 
alms, —  it  will  endeavor  as  far  as  may  be  to  abolish  these 
conditions,  by  rendering  the  poor  self-helpful,  by  educating 
the  ignorant,  and  by  removing  the  causes  of  disease  and  vice, 
thus  laying  the  foundations  of  a  nobler  individual  manhood, 
which  is  the  only  sure  basis  for  a  regenerated  society. 

If  we  accept  Cicero's  derivation  of  the  word  "  religion," 
its  essential  meaning  is  faithfulness,  thoroughness.  Tliis 
principle  of  faithfulness  evolution  will  teach  man  to  carry 
into  every  department  of  his  thought  and  labor.  The 
reply  of  the  servant-girl,  who  had  recently  united  with  tlie 
church,  to  the  question  of  her  mistress  as  to  Avhat  evidence 
she  had  of  her  conversion  :  "I  know  I  have  got  religion, 
because,  now,  I  sweep  under  the  mats,"  is  suggestive  of 
that  conscientious  element  that  a  rational  religion  based 
upon  evolution  should  introduce  into  human  life.  INIatthew 
Arnold's  definition  of  religion  is,  "  Morality  touched  with 
emotion  "  :  a  morality  lifted  out  of  mere  conventionalisms, 
a  morality  which  will  make  the  employer  recognize  the 
lunnanity  of  his  employee,  striving  to  render  him  a  just 
compensation  for  his  labor,  instead  of  treating  him  as  a 
mere  money-making  machine ;  which  will  make  the  work- 


of  the  Ecolut'wn  Philosophy.  19 

ingman  anxious  that  his  work  shall  be  well  done,  rather 
than  make  him  strive  to  do  as  little  as  possible  for  his 
wages ;  which  shall  abolish  shoddy  clothes  and  Buddensiek 
buildings  ;  which  shall  do  away  with  the  adulteration  of 
foods  and  drugs ;  which  shall  create  a  divine  discontent 
with  the  "  old  clothes  "  of  superstition  and  unreason  with 
which  the  average  man  has  been  satisfied  to  array  his  intel- 
lectual and  religious  nature,— this,  if  not  answering  to  all 
that  we  mean  by  religion,  is  the  natural  and  consistent 
product  of  a  Eeligion  of  Life.  Go  into  yonder  church  — 
select  it  almost  at  random,  if  you  please,  from  any  quarter 
of  these  two  great  cities  —  these  Siamese  twins  whose 
common  artery  is  our  beautiful  Brooklyn  bridge  —  and 
question  its  members  as  to  the  character  and  meaning  of 
its  creed.  How  many  will  you  find  who  really  know  any- 
thing about  the  dogmas  which  they  are  supposed  to  profess 
and  believe  —  a  belief  in  which,  in  many  instances,  is 
deemed  essential  to  salvation  ?  How  many  of  our  city 
congregations,  of  whatever  sect,  would  sit  patiently  and 
hear  the  cold  logic  of  Calvinism  brought  home  to  their 
understandings  ?  Against  all  these  duplicities  of  thought 
and  life,  so  prevalent  in  this  transition  period,  the  phi- 
losophy of  evolution  enters  an  emphatic  protest,  seeing  that 
that  only  can  promote  growth  of  inanly  and  womanly  char- 
acter which  is  vitally  and  really  appropriated  by  the  under- 
standing, and  allowed  its  legitimate  bearing  upon  the 
healthful  activities  of  life. 

Evolution  recognizes  the  continuity  of  thought  —  the 
solidarity  of  the  race  —  the  indebtedness  of  the  present  to 
the  past.  It  does  not  therefore  endeavor  to  establish  the 
new  truth  or  the  higher  social  ideal  by  violent  or  revolu- 
tionary methods.  It  seeks  for  the  soul  of  truth  in  things 
false  —  for  the  soul  of  good  in  things  evil  —  seeing  that 
evils  and  falsehoods  are  usually  goods  and  truths  out  of 
their  proper  relations.  Evil  is  mal-adjustment.  Its  cor- 
rection should  therefore  be  sought  by  readjustment,  rather 
than  by  destruction.  Evolution  would  build  on  the  exist- 
ing good,  rather  than  seek  to  lay  an  entirely  new  founda- 
tion. In  the  church,  Evolution  beholds  an  institution 
capable  of  bestowing  infinite  benefits  upon  mankind ;  yet 
as  organized  and  directed  in  the  past,  and  to  a  great  degree 
in  the  present,  it  has  been  and  is  an  institution  of  doubtful 
utility.     It  has  repressed  the  individual  reason,  teaching 


20  The  Scope  and  Prlnc'qiles 

its  devotees  to  accept  as  authority  the  commandments  of 
pope,  or  priest,  or  ecclesiastical  synod,  or  sacred  book.  It 
has  made  the  past  a  shackle  upon  the  present,  instead  of  a 
help  and  an  inspiration  to  a  larger  and  more  progressive 
life.  It  has  fostered  a  morbid  and  unhealthy  other-world- 
liness,  instead  of  seeking  to  better  the  condition  of  men 
here  and  now.  It  has  cultivated  a  low  pretense  of  famil- 
iarity with  the  person  and  attributes  of  the  Deity,  as  it  has 
assumed  to  define  them,  instead  of  bidding  the  soul  stand 
in  reverent  awe  in  the  presence  of  "the  Infinite  and  Eter- 
nal Energy  whence  all  things  proceed."  All  these  things 
must  be  changed  if  the  church  Avould  remain  a  living  and 
progressive  force  in  the  individual  life  and  in  the  ordering 
of  society. 

Instead  of  ceremonies  and  w^orship  based  upon  the  cur- 
rent anthropomorphic  conceptions  of  the  deity,  there  Avill 
arise  ''  observances  tending  to  keep  alive  a  consciousness  of 
the  true  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  the  Unknown  Cause, 
and  tending  to  give  expression  to  the  sentiment  underlying 
that  consciousness."  As  to  the  character  and  attributes  of 
this  cause,  the  religious  teacher,  accepting  the  teachings  of 
Evolution,  Avill  not  arbitrarily  dogmatize.  In  the  language 
of  Mr.  Spencer,  "  duty  requires  us  neither  to  assert  nor  to 
deny  that  it  has  personality,  but  to  submit  ourselves  with 
all  humility  to  the  established  limits  of  our  intelligence, 
in  the  conviction  that  the  choice  is  not  between  personality 
and  something  lower,  but  personality  and  something  higher, 
and  that  the  ultimate  reality  is  no  more  representative  in 
terms  of  human  consciousness  than  human  consciousness  is 
re})resentative  in  terms  of  a  plant's  functions."  The  fact 
that  we  stand  continually  in  the  presence  of  this  Ultimate 
Reality,  that  it  is  involved  in  every  phenomenal  activity, 
whether  of  mind  or  of  matter,  will  however,  be  kept  contin- 
ually before  us.  The  use  of  the  term  ''  Unknowable,"  as 
applied  to  this  Reality,  is  unfortunate  if  thereby  it  conveys 
the  idea  of  that  which  is  practically  or  actually  non-exist- 
ent,—  a  superficial  interpretation  of  Mr.  Spencer's  doctrine 
with  Avhich  we  are  frequently  assailed  by  his  self-consti- 
tuted critics,  but  against  wdiich  he  everywhere  carefully 
guards  himself,  to  the  understanding  mind.  As  he  himself 
declares  :  "  the  Ultimate  Reality  is  the  sole  existence ;  all 
things  present  to  consciousness  being  but  shows  of  it." 

In  the  words  of  an  able  popular  interpreter  of  the  evo- 


of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  21 

lution  philosophy :  "  The  agnostic  minister  will  be  chiefly 
a  moral  educator;  but  while  discussing  ethical  questions, 
which  must  of  themselves  exert  a  highly  elevating  influ- 
ence on  his  hearers,  he  will,  at  the  same  time,  have  ample 
opportunity  of  ministering  to  their  spiritual  needs  by 
appropriate  references  to  the  mysteries  of  cosmology,  either 
for  the  purpose  of  quickening  the  religious  emotions  and 
reinforcing  the  religious  consciousness,  or  with  a  view  to 
emphasizing  some  moral  lesson  which  he  may  wish  to  bring 
home  to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  Thus  will  man's  con- 
duct be  influenced  in  the  right  direction.  On  the  one  hand, 
the  necessity  of  leading  a  moral  life  will  be  impressed 
upon  him ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  will  be  led  to  reflect  upon 
that  inscrutable  power  whose  marvelous  energy  reveals 
itself  in  a  universe  of  wonders  —  a  power  which,  though 
indefinable,  nay  inconceivable,  is  yet  as  real  in  its  existence 
as  it  is  unknowable  in  its  attributes."  *  Though  incompre- 
hensible, this  power  is  apprehensible ;  though  unknowable 
in  its  essential  nature  and  attributes,  it  is  known  as  exist- 
ing, known  as  infinite  and  eternal,  known  as  the  Energy 
from  whence  all  things  proceed,  and  known  symbolically 
in  its  relations  to  man  and  to  the  phenomenal  universe. 
This  knowledge  satisfies  every  legitimate  hunger  of  the 
heart  and  mind.  The  attitude  of  the  mind,  therefore,  in 
contemplating  the  Infinite  Source  of  phenomena  should  be 
profoundly  reverential  and  worshipful ;  yet  its  truest  ser- 
vice will  be  found  in  no  ritual  or  stated  ceremonial  of  relig- 
ious worship,  but  in  the  active  and  intelligent  service  of 
man.  And  in  and  through  this  service,  making  life  itself 
seem  ever  grander,  more  precious,  more  beautiful,  there 
may  grow  up  in  the  mind  a  rational  hope  for  personal  con- 
tinuance hereafter,  to  supplant  the  dogmatic  assurance  of 
the  old  theology,  in  which,  as  inculcated  by  the  Christian 
church,  thoughtful  minds  are  everywhere  coming  to  have  a 
less  and  less  confident  belief.  Evolution  teaches  the  essen- 
tial goodness  and  desirability  of  life ;  and  on  this  founda- 
tion, if  on  any,  a  rational  hope  of  immortality  must  finally 
be  based.  In  this  direction  the  healthy  emotions  of  a 
rational  mind  are  entitled  to  have  free  play,  "  so  long  as 
they  do  not  trespass  upon  the  domains  of   the  intellect." 


*The  Moral  and  Religious  Aspects  of  Herbert  Spencer's  Philosophy.  By 
Sylvan  Drey.  ( London :  Williams  &  Xorgate.  Boston :  James  H.  West, 
Publisher.) 


22  The  Scojje  and  Principles 

Whether  this  hope  in  individuals  be  vivid  or  dim  will  prob- 
ably be  largely  a  matter  of  temperament  and  predisposi- 
tion ;  but  it  will  doubtless  be  even  more  dependent  upon 
the  lively  comprehension  of  this  fundamental  doctrine  of 
biological  evolution  —  the  doctrine  of  the  essential  good- 
ness and  desirability  of  life  itself. 

From  what  has  heretofore  been  said,  it  is  evident  that 
Evolution,  whether  regarded  in  its  philosophical  or  in  its 
religious  aspects,  will  largely  interest  itself  in  the  practical 
problems  of  sociology  —  in  the  promotion  of  more  active 
and  more  widely  extended  human  sympathies,  in  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  poor,  the  vicious  and  the  down-trodden  —  thus 
extending  the  boundaries  and  the  satisfactions  of  life  not 
only  among  the  remote  and  barbarous  populations  of  the 
earth,  but  also,  primarily  and  correlatively,  in  each  individ- 
ual member  of  society.  The  word  "  sociology,"  as  applied 
to  the  science  of  society, —  or  its  French  equivalent, —  is,  I 
believe,  the  invention  of  Auguste  Comte ;  but  the  credit  of 
working  out  this  science  of  society,  from  strictly  scientific 
data,  into  a  natural  and  comprehensive  system,  is  due,  more 
than  to  any  one  else,  to  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer.  It  is  to  this 
study,  most  vital  in  interest  and  importance  to  every 
liuman  being,  that  this  series  of  lectures  will  direct  our 
attention. 

Whether  or  not  society  may  be  properly  termed  ''  an  or- 
ganism," in  the  strict  sense  in  which  the  individual  prod- 
ucts of  biological  evolution  are  thus  designated,  it  certainly 
bears  a  close  relation  to  them  in  many  important  respects, 
and  especially  as  to  the  character  of  its  process  of  growth. 
As  compared  with  the  development  of  inorganic  materials, 
which  grow  by  simple  accretion  or  addition  to  their  bulk, 
organic  substances  grow  by  intussusception  —  a  process  of 
waste  and  repair  which  reaches  every  i)article  throujj^liout 
their  internal  structure.  In  this  respect  the  growth  of 
societies  resembles  that  of  organic  substances  ;  it  is  a  sort 
of  vital  chemistry.  All  actual  and  permanent  enlargement 
of  society  proceeds  from  the  voluntary  co-operative  action 
of  individuals.  Affection  and  self-interest  are  the  attrac- 
tive forces  which  weld  society  together,  and  these  forces 
ojjcrate  directly  in  and  u])on  individual  iniiuls,  throughout 
the  social  structure.  The  death  of  individuals,  and  the 
birth  and  growtli  of  others  to  fill  their  places  in  society, 
proceeds  in  like  manntu-  with  the  processes  of  waste  and 


of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  23 

repair  in  organic  structures.  There  is  such  an  intimate 
relationship  between  biological  and  social  studies,  that  some 
knowledge  of  the  laws  governing  biological  growth  is  neces- 
sary to  lit  one  for  forming  correct  judgments  on  socio- 
logical problems.  Biology  and  sociology  both  treat  of  the 
phenomena  of  life  —  both  involve  psychological  as  well  as 
merely  physical  conditions  —  the  one  leading  up  to  the 
other  by  an  entirely  orderly  and  natural  process  of  devel- 
opment. Evolution  shows  that  the  phenomenal  universe 
is  "all  of  one  piece,"  —  and  in  its  unity  of  method  sym- 
bolizes an  essential  unity  of  Being,  which,  if  we  may  not 
directly  affirm  it  as  a  demonstrated  fact,  at  least  constitutes 
the  most  satisfactory  and  rational  theory  of  the  nature  of 
things. 

In  this  higher  field  of  sociological  study,  how  many  and 
varied  are  the  problems  that  are  presented  for  our  investi- 
gation —  the  profoundest,  most  deeply  interesting  of  any 
which  the  human  mind  can  attempt  to  solve ;  for  they  are 
problems  which  concern  the  origin,  the  essential  character, 
the  temporal  and  final  destiny  of  man  as  an  individual,  and 
of  Man  as  a  race.  Without  attempting  to  forestall  the 
sohition  of  any  of  these  problems,  I  may,  in  conclusion, 
state  negatively  the  attitude  of  the  evolution  philosophy 
toward  sociological  studies. 

I.  Evolutionists  have  no  special  schemes ,  for  social 
reform  to  urge  upon  society.  They  regard  all  earnest 
efforts  for  the  amelioration  of  existing  social  evils  and 
inequalities,  with  sympathy  and  appreciation,  but  insist 
that  the  various  "  rapid  transit "  plans  for  achieving  these 
much  desired  ends  shall  be  rigidly  examined  in  the  light  of 
social  science,  and  not  be  too  hastily  accepted  for  all  that 
their  originators  claim  them  to  be.  Evolutionists  realize 
that  "  Nature  does  not  advance  by  leaps,"  and  they  would 
carefully  note  the  trend  of  past  events,  and  study  the 
nature  of  individual  man  in  history  and  in  connection  Avith 
his  present  institutional  environment,  before  urging  him  to 
a  definite,  forward  step,  in  a  direction  contrary  to  that 
which  he  has  been  pursuing.  To  the  Evolutionist,  the 
a  priori  scheme  of  the  social  reformer  bears  a  certain  resem- 
blance to  the  philosophical  system  of  the  metaphysician, 
and,  like  the  latter,  he  thinks  the  former  should  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  test  of  the  experiential  method. 


24  The  Scope  and  Principles 

II.  In  urging  the  study  of  jVEau  in  his  historical  rela- 
tions, however,  evolutionists  do  not  claim  that  society 
should  take  no  forward  step,  or  that  man  should  simply 
imitate  or  repeat  the  past.  An  able  student  of  social  and 
economic  problems,  Prof.  Wm.  G.  Sumner,  a  gentleman 
whose  abilities  I  admire  and  with  many  of  whose  conclu- 
sions I  agree,  in  an  article  entitled  ''  What  is  Civil  Lib- 
erty ?"  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Fopulur  Science  Monthly, 
makes  the  remarkable  statement  that  the  doctrine  of  man's 
natural  liberty  is  a  "dogma,"  of  purely  metaphysical  origin, 
and  asserts,  in  italicised  phrase,  that  '■'■that  dogma  has  never 
had  an  historical  foundatio7i,  but  is  the  purest  example  that 
could  be  brought  forward  of  an  out  and  out  a  priori  dogma." 
"The  doctrine  of  evolution,"  he  adds,  "instead  of  support- 
ing the  natural  equality  of  all  men,  would  give  a  demon- 
stration of  their  inequality  ;  and  the  doctrine  of  the  strug- 
gle for  existence  would  divorce  liberty  and  equality  as 
incompatible  with  each  other."  "  Civil  liberty,"  he  says 
elsewliere,  "  is  not  a  scientific  fact.  It  is  not  in  the  order 
of  nature  "  ;  and  all  these  startling  assertions  he  makes  in 
defense  of  the  doctrine,  the  natural  foundations  of  which 
he  arbitrarily  endeavors  to  undermine. 

To  the  evolutionist  it  is  quite  evident  that  if  the  learned 
Professor  was  as  well  instructed  in  biology  as  he  is  in  the- 
ology, metaphysics  and  the  a  pjriori  discussions  of  political 
economy,  he  would  quite  otherwise  interpret  the  sociologi- 
cal teachings  of  Evolution.  He  is  but  a  poor  student  of 
natural  science,  indeed,  who  would  simply  content  himself 
with  learning  facts,  without  endeavoring  to  trace  their  re- 
lations, to  study  their  causal  connections,  and  therefrom  to 
draw  prophetic  inferences  to  guide  his  future  investiga- 
tions, to  interpret  underlying  laws,  and  thus  enable  him  to 
push  forward  to  new  discoveries.  *  To  say  that  Evolution 
"  does  not  point  toward  civil  liberty  "  because  communities 
of  men  have  never  existed  completely  under  its  beneficent 
sway,  is  to  cut  away  from  scientific  research  tliat  very 
synthetizing  and  prophetic  quality  which  is  its  noblest  and 

*  If  the  doctrine  of  man's  natural  liberty  is  only  a  "dojrnia,"  as  the  I'ro- 
fessor  declares, —  a  mere  speculative  ideal,  and  notliinj;  more, —  then  it  is  idle 
to  pursue  such  a  chima-ra.  or  to  liase  ui)on  it  a  social  jihilosophy.  J5at  if  it  is 
a  condition  of  social  eciuilibrinm,  towar<l  the  realization  of  wliich  man  lias 
l>een  working  thrr)u;ihout  all  the  stajres  of  social  develojiment.  Then,  like  the 
moral  law,  it  is  :liscoveral)le  tliroufili  exi)erience  and  historical  investifration, 
and  is  strictly  "  iu  the  order  of  nature,"  though  not  as  a  completely  realized 
ideal  in  society. 


of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  25 

most  fruitful  characteristic,  and  has  been  the  foundation  of 
all  advancement,  invention,  and  discovery,  from  the  birth 
of  modern  science  throughout  the  entire  history  of  its 
magnificent  achievements.  The  history  of  the  past  gives 
us  pointers  for  the  future  —  and  they  point  always  away 
from  the  crudities,  errors  and  failures  of  the  past,  in  the 
direction  of  an  ideal  perfection.  In  all  evolutionary  pro- 
gress, Nature  moves  along  the  lines  of  the  least  resistance, 
and  these  lines  are  not  usually  discovered  by  the  use  of 
metaphysical  divining-rods,  but  by  patient,  unbiased,  per- 
sistent investigation.  Myself  a  firm  believer  in  the  advan- 
tage and  necessity  of  a  larger  commercial  liberty  between 
nations,  I  do  not  believe  that  the  beneficence  of  this  prin- 
ciple will  ever  be  brought  home  to  the  convictions  of  the 
people  by  a  priori  theorizing.  The  sooner  our  Economic 
professors  and  social  reformers  appeal  to  the  facts  and  les- 
sons of  experience,  instead  of  to  metaphysical  dogmas,  and 
adopt  the  method  of  Evolution  in  place  of  that  of  specula- 
tive theory,  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  reforms  which  they 
advocate. 

The  method  of  Evolution,  as  the  name  indicates,  is  in 
its  very  nature  progressive.  Evolutionists  know  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  in  nature  as  absolute  quiescence :  we  must 
have  either  the  activity  of  progress,  or  the  activity  of 
retrogression.  The  one  leads  to  a  higher  and  more  perfect 
life  —  the  other  to  dissolution  and  death.  Let  us  see  to  it 
that  ive  choose  the  way  of  progress,  and  of  Life  ! 

' '  The  outworn  right,  the  old  abuse, 

The  pious  fraud  transparent  grown, 
The  good  held  captive  in  the  use 
Of  wrong  alone  — 

"  These  wait  their  doom,  from  that  great  law 
Which  makes  the  past  time  serve  to-day  ; 
A-ud  fresher  life  the  world  shall  draw 
From  their  decay, 

"  O  backward-looking  son  of  time  ! 
The  new  is  old,  the  old  is  new  — 
The  cycle  of  a  change  sublime 
Still  sweeping  through. 

"  So  wisely  taught  the  Indian  seer :  — 
Destroying  Siva,  forming  Bralim, 


26  Scope  and  Principles. 

Who  wake  by  turns  earth's  love  and  fear, 
Are  one  —  the  same. 

*'  As  idly  as  in  that  old  day 

Thou  mournest,  did  thy  sires  repine. 
So,  in  his  time,  thy  son,  grown  gray, 
Shall  sigh  for  thine. 

"  Yet  not  the  less  for  them  or  thou 
The  eternal  step  of  Progress  beats 
To  that  great  anthem,  calm  and  slow, 
Which  God  repeats  ! 

"  Take  heart  !  —  the  waster  builds  again  — 
A  charmed  life  old  Goodness  hath  ; 
The  tares  may  perish  —  but  the  grain 
Is  not  for  death. 

"  God  works  in  all  things  ;  all  obey 

His  first  propulsion  from  the  night  ; 
Ho,  wake  and  watcli  !  —  the  world  is  gray 
With  morning  light !"  * 


*  Whittier,  "  The  Reformer.' 


THE  RELATIVITY  OF  KNOWLEDGE 


BY 

EOBEET   G.    ECCLES,    M.  D. 
Author  of  "Evolution  of  Mind:  its  Nature  and  Development." 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "First  Principles,"  and  "Principles  of  Psychology", 
Fiske's  "  Cosmic  Philosophy  "  ;  Kant's  "  Critique  of  Pure  lleason." 
The  works  of  Bruno,  Locke,  Bacon,  Spinoza,  Hume,  Mill,  Reid, 
Mansel  and  Hamilton. 

(28) 


THE    RELATIVITY    OF    KNOWLEDGE.* 


As  this  is  a  Sunday  evening  lecture,  I  suppose  it  is  proper 
to  begin  with  a  text.     I  select  the  following,  therefore : 

"And  they  said,  Go  to,  let  us  build  us  a  city  and  a  tower,  whose 
top  may  reach  unto  heaven." — Gen.  xi.,  4. 

The  childish  notion  expressed  in  these  words  is  to-day  so 
palpably  absurd  that  a  boy  of  ten  years  of  age  would  laugh 
at  it,  if  it  were  seriously  proposed.  As  transparently  ridic- 
ulous as  it  is  in  physics,  the  same  notion  is  quite  common 
in  philosophy.  Men  expect  to  build  towers  of  speculation 
whose  tops  can  reach  the  Absolute.  The  projectors  of 
Babel's  tower  no  more  seriously  hoped  to  touch  the  region 
known  as  heaven  than  do  our  philosophers,  who  strive  to 
know  things  as  they  are  in  themselves,  to  reach  the  indeter- 
minate. Copernicus,  Kepler  and  Galileo  cut  away  the  foun- 
dations from  the  earth  and  left  it  floating  in  the  ocean  of 
immensity.  Hume  and  Kant,  Berkeley  and  Spencer,  cut 
away  the  foundations  of  the  supposed  stability  of  truth, 
and  left  it  a  tiny  speck  amid  the  endless  deep.  A  tower 
from  either  foundation  reaching  to  the  infinite  is  simply 
ludicrous  in  its  absurdity.  All  we  know  or  ever  hope  to 
know  is  practically  wiped  out  when  contrasted  with  the  in- 
finite. Two  points  along  any  straight  line  that  are  at  an 
equal  distance  from  any  third  point,  and  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, must  be  exactly  together,  and  are  not  two  points  at  all. 
From  our  first  item  of  knowledge  to  the  end  of  endless 
knowledge  is  no  farther  than  from  our  last  item  to  the  same. 
All  we  can  grasp  in  thought  pales  into  nothingness  before 
the  infinite  ocean  of  facts.  If  a  worm  cannot  compass  our 
conception  of  the  universe  with  its  limited  fund  of  experi- 
ence, neither  can  we  compass  that  of  a  being  millions  on 
millions  of  times  farther  beyond  us  in  progress  than  we  are 
beyond  a  worm. 

Natural  Philosophy  is  steadily  proving  the  kinship  of 
our  senses  of  seeing,  hearing,  feeling,  tasting  and  smelling. 
*  Copyright,  1889,  by  James  H.  West. 


30  The  Relativity  of  Knowledge. 

We  have  been  taught  at  school  and  college  to  look  upon 
sound  and  coloj.',  odor  and  taste,  as  resultants  of  motion 
and  sensation.  The  phonograph  and  telephone  are  daily 
demonstrating  that  sounds  of  all  kinds  are  merely  vibra- 
tions borne  to  our  senses  by  means  of  the  ear.  The  speed 
and  method  of  vibrating  of  the  disk  form  all  the  vocal 
sounds  in  complete  fidelity.  A  slow  vibration  gives  a  low 
pitch,  and  a  rapid  one  a  high  pitch.  All  the  colors  of 
flowers,  ribbons  and  rainbow  are  borrowed  reflections  from 
the  white  light  of  the  sun.  Monochromatic  light  would 
give  a  ghastly  world.  (Here  the  lecturer  illustrated  by  il- 
luminating with  monochromatic  light.)  Light  vibrations  give 
us  the  sensation  of  color.  The  slowest  moving  waves  give 
us  red  and  the  most  rapid  violet.  Taste  and  odor  are  due 
to  contact-vibration  rather  than  to  that  of  waves,  but  are 
subject  to  somewhat  similar  laAvs.  Every  sense  has  an 
exceedingly  narrow  range.  Less  than  a  certain  number  of 
atmospheric  beats  per  second  will  give  us  no  sound.  More 
than  a  certain  number  will  likewise  leave  us  in  silence. 
Ears  are  not  all  alike  in  this,  some  being  able  to  hear  a 
higher  pitch  and  others  a  lower  one  than  their  neighbors. 
The  sounds  our  ears  can  hear  are  within  a  finite  range ; 
those  possible  to  Nature  spread  off  into  the  inflnite  both 
above  and  below  our  powers.  Colors  are  subject  to  the 
same  law.  What  the  eye  can  see  downward  is  limited  by 
the  speed  producing  red,  while  vibrations  of  ether  slower 
and  slower  down  to  inflnity  probably  exist.  What  it  sees  up- 
ward is  a  somewhat  greater  but  still  limited  speed  giving 
violet,  while  waves  of  greater  and  greater  speed  running 
upward  inflnitely  are  embraced  in  Nature's  compass.  Make 
proper  telephonic  connection  from  the  sounding-board  of  a 
piano  to  a  remote  room  ;  connect  an  octave  of  tuning-forks, 
pro})erly  arranged  for  damping  ;  play  any  tune  on  the  piano 
within  the  range  of  the  forks,  and  they  will  reproduce  it. 
(The  lecturer  illustrated  by  striking  a  tuning-fork,  which 
conveyed  its  note  to  a  second  fork  on  a  sounding-board, 
which  continued  to  vibrate  after  the  one  originally  struck 
was  damped.)  Strike  notes  higher  or  lower  than  your  forks 
and  they  will  remain  practically  silent.  A  harp  with  the 
range  of  a  single  octave  will  do  the  same.  Duplicate  every 
note  of  the  piano  with  a  corresponding  one  in  a  tuning- 
fork,  and  a  reproduction  of  every  piece  played  on  the 
piano,  whether  high  or   low,  becomes    possible.     We   are 


The  Relativity  of  Knowledge.  31 

like  the  single  octave  of  forks,  and  Nature  is  like  the  piano 
that  goes  both  above  and  below  our  powers. 

But  while  the  piano  itself  is  a  finite  series,  and  only  a 
little  beyond  the  octave  of  forks,  Nature  is  endless  in  her 
range,  defying  our  powers  of  imitation  both  upward  and 
downward.  A  worm,  claiming  to  know  the  universe  as  it 
is,  becomes  an  edifying  spectacle.  A  blind  fish  in  the 
Mammoth  Cave  would  know  the  folly  of  the  worm,  al- 
though repeating  the  same  silliness  for  itself.  Man  can  see 
that  neither  the  worm  nor  the  fish  can  compass  anything 
like  a  correct  conception  of  things  as  they  are.  The  creature 
last  produced,  no  doubt  always  in  the  pride  of  its  heart 
thinks  its  own  knowledge  final,  and  is  willing  to  stake 
everything  on  it.  A  being  as  far  beyond  us  as  we  are  be- 
yond a  worm  would  wonder  at  our  presumption,  if  made 
aware  of  it.  Then  beings  millions  on  millions  of  times 
beyond  him,  along  the  infinite  scale  of  impossible  concep- 
tion, would  see  that  even  his  knowledge  was  as  nothing  to 
the  whole. 

From  the  single  sense  of  the  lowest  animal,  to  the  most 
accurately  adjusted  five  senses  of  the  highest  Caucasian,  is 
but  a  narrow  step.  We  are  not  one  whit  nearer  that  end- 
lessness of  sense-potentiality  here  depicted  for  the  know- 
able  than  is  the  lowest  creature  that  lives  and  breathes. 
Its  knowledge  of  the  actual  state  of  the  heart  of  things  is 
as  great  as  ours.  It  is  as  near  the  final  synthesis  of  the 
awful  abyss  of  endless  fact  as  we  are  or  ever  shall  be^ 
though  we  may  go  on  trying  to  approach  it  forever  and 
forever.  Science  may  explain  and  explain,  yet,  after  all, 
what  do  her  explanations  amount  to,  before  this  awful 
problem  that  our  conceit  thinks  it  has  solved  ?  Physics 
and  chemistry,  biology  and  astronomy,  are  all  vying  with 
each  other  in  trying  to  explain  all  things  as  modes  of 
motion. 

Our  friend  Mr.  Perrin  has  taken  this  cue,  and  worked 
out  a  philosophy  where  everything  is  knowable.*  He  asks 
us  if  motion  is  not  the  final  fact  of  experience ;  if  all  facts 
are  not  at  last  resolvable  into  facts  of  motion.  Well, 
what  if  this  be  so  ?  Suppose  we  can  show  that  we  have 
no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  motion  ?  Even  if  we 
acknowledge  that  things  do  actually  move,  instead  of 
merely  appearing  to  do  so,  we  can  still  ask  him  to  tell  us 

*The  Religion  of  Philosophy.    By  Raymond  S.  Perrin. 


32  The  Relativity  of  Knoivledge. 

how  he  can  have  motion  unless  there  is  something,  not 
itself  motion,  that  can  be  moved.  If  all  human  experi- 
ences are  due  to  motions,  what  is  the  unknown  something 
that  makes  motion  possible  ?  On  a  ship  coming  from  Liv- 
erpool to  New  York,  if  you  walk  from  stem  to  stern  at  the 
rate  of  three  miles  an  hour,  you  may  be  very  certain  that 
you  are  moving,  and  those  of  your  fellow-passengers  who 
see  you  are  equally  positive.  If  the  boat  is  going  with 
just  the  same  speed  in  the  opposite  direction,  it  becomes 
evident  that  you  were  all  mistaken.  As  you  walked  east- 
ward you  no  doubt  were  confident  of  the  direction  of  your 
motion ;  yet  if  the  boat  was  going  thirty  miles  per  hour  in 
the  opposite  direction,  it  is  clear  that  instead  of  going 
three  miles  eastward,  as  you  at  first  believed,  you  were 
really  going  twenty-seven  miles  an  hour  westward.  But 
^ven  this  correction  can  be  challenged.  The  earth  carries 
boat,  ocean  and  passengers  at  a  rate  of  about  1,000  miles 
per  hour  eastward,  so  that  it  seems  you  are  going  East 
after  all  at  the  rate  of  about  973  miles  per  hovu-.  Again, 
this  can  be  challenged ;  for  the  orbital  motion  changes  all 
our  previous  computations.  Once  more,  this  last  can  be 
challenged,  for  the  movement  of  the  solar  system  among 
the  fixed  stars  must  be  considered.  Motion  cancels  motion 
as  we  go  along  in  our  discoveries,  until  we  finally  see  that, 
for  aught  we  know  to  the  contrary,  every  motion  ever  made, 
considered  absolutely,  may  be  a  mere  illusion  of  sense,  due 
to  position,  as  in  the  cases  we  have  noted. 

Could  we  trace  our  way  through  the  depths  of  infinity, 
we  have  no  reason  for  assuming  that  the  cancellations, 
both  in  direction  and  time,  are  not  endless.  Analogy  would 
say  they  are.  Who  then  can  ever  know  whether  or  not 
there  ever  was  any  such  thing  as  an  absolute  change  of 
place  at  all  ?  Of  relative  change  we  have  an  abundance  of 
evidence ;  of  absolute  change,  none.  As  science  on  tlie 
one  hand  resolves  everything  into  motion,  and  on  the  otlun* 
hand  proves  that  we  have  no  evidence  of  the  actiuil  exist- 
ence of  motion,  it  very  plainly  cancels  its  own  testimony 
and  leaves  us  without  a  guide. 

In  considering  the  physiology  of  sensation,  this  cancel- 
lation becomes  still  more  complete.  The  thought  of  a 
moving  body  is  but  a  mode  of  consciousness.  The  whirl 
of  a  wheel  gives  us  no  evidence  that  it,  too,  is  a  mode  of 
consciousness.     We  can  truly  picture  with  some  approach 


The  RelativitT/  of  Knowledge.  33 

to  accuracy  the  ideas  of  other  minds.  Why  ?  Because 
their  ideas  and  ours  are  both  of  a  kind  —  they  are  both 
ideas.  We  cannot  so  picture  the  actual  state  of  that  exter- 
nal reality  which  produces  in  us  the  sensation  of  a  revolv- 
ing wheel.  A  sharp  knife  will  produce  the  sensation  of 
pain.  Have  we  any  reason  for  believing  that  the  pain  thus 
produced  was  part  of  the  knife-blade,  that  got  into  us  from 
it  ?  A  flea  moving  over  our  backs  will  give  an  itching  sen- 
sation. Does  the  sensation,  <'itch,"  escape  from  the  feet 
of  the  flea  and  enter  the  back  ?  A  gentle  touch  of  the 
ribs  by  mischievous  finger-tips  will  produce  the  sensation 
of  tickle.  Is  the  ''  tickle  "  first  in  the  finger-tips  and  then 
in  the  ribs  ?  An  electric  induction-coil  produces  a  sensa- 
tion of  shock.  Is  the  shock  first  in  the  coil  and  then  in 
the  person  shocked  ?  Our  judgments  demand  that  these 
questions  be  answered  in  the  negative.  W^hatever  stimu- 
lates the  nerve-centres  susceptible  of  itching,  pain,  or  tickle, 
will  give  us  these  sensations ;  and  the  stimulating  thing 
need  in  no  sense  resemble  the  sensation  produced. 

Now,  it  is  precisely  so  with  the  nerve-centre  which  appre- 
hends motion.  Whatever  stimulates  it,  makes  motion  vis- 
ible to  our  senses.  The  poisonous  ptomaines  of  the  blood  in 
the  delirium  of  fever  produce  just  such  stimulation.  Drugs 
can  do  the  same.  An  undigested  supper  will  make  us  see 
bodies  in  motion,  or  believe  we  move  ourselves,  in  dreams. 
As  the  fingers  tickle  the  ribs,  so  drugs  and  poisons  tickle 
the  brain  into  seeing  moving  bodies.  They  evoke  the  sen- 
sations of  space  and  motion.  The  space  and  motion  I  am 
conscious  of  in  a  dream  is,  so  far  as  my  sensations  are  con- 
cerned, the  same  space  and  motion  of  my  normal,  waking 
moments.  Surely  you  will  not  assert  that  the  dream-space 
and  dream-motion,  and  a  badly  digested  supper  that  tickled 
it  into  being,  are  identical  ?  If  a  dose  of  rich  pie-crust 
can  make  the  sensations  of  space  and  motion  appear  in 
consciousness,  what  evidence  have  we  that  the  actual  things 
in  themselves,  that  encompass  us  within  Nature,  are  any 
more  like  these  sensations  than  the  pie-crust  is  ?  If  alcohol 
in  excess  can  tickle  our  nerve-centres  into  seeing  moving 
snakes,  how  do  we  know  that  the  real  snakes  are  not  as 
unlike  these  sensations  which  they  produce  as  the  alcohol 
is  ?  We  can  believe  that  our  sensations  of  space  and  mo- 
tion, and  the  things  normally  causing  them  to  appear,  are 
just   alike.     We   can   also,  if   we  wish,  believe  that  mis- 


34  The  Relativity  of  Knowledge. 

chievous  fingers  contain  the  tickle  that  enters  the  ribs.  Our 
belief  one  way  or  the  other  cannot  alter  the  facts.  This 
much  we  can  know  —  that  the  proof  in  the  case  of  the 
tickle  is  just  as  strong  as  in  the  case  of  space  and  motion. 
He  who  perversely  asserts  that  the  finger-tips  first  contain 
the  tickle  that  is  given  Uj)  to  the  ribs,  that  the  flea's  feet 
hold  the  itchiness  that  is  given  up  to  the  back,  and  that  the 
knife-edge  has  the  pain  that  enters  the  cut,  is  just  as 
rational  as  tliose  who  declare  that  the  outer  realities  of 
being  resemble  the  space  and  motion  sensations  produced  in 
us  by  their  stimulations.  He  who  asserts  that  the  sub- 
stances which  stimulate  the  nerve-centres  of  space  and 
motion,  producing  a  delirium  of  these  sensations,  is  like  the 
sensations  themselves,  has  as  much  proof  as  he  who  holds 
that  anything  we  see  is  in  any  known  way  like  the  realities 
of  absolute  being.  Do  whiskey -molecules  shape  themselves 
into  wriggling  snakes  when  they  enter  the  brain  ?  Do 
Indian  hemp  and  morphine,  on  entering  the  brain,  assume  the 
forms  of  space,  time,  and  actual  world-objects  ?  Surely  no 
one  will  hold  to  a  notion  so  crude.  Yet  it  is  not  one  whit 
cruder  than  the  current  notions  of  men  who  believe  that 
the  Absolute  Reality,  external  to  consciousness,  can  in  its 
real  nature  in  any  sense  ever  be  known. 

The  logic  in  both  instances  is  positively  identical.  Space 
and  time,  matter  and  motion,  as  known  to  us,  are  only 
states  of  our  own  consciousness,  which  the  actual  con- 
ditions of  being  tickle  into  perception.  Whatever  outer 
reality  answers  to  space,  stirs  up  that  feeling  in  us.  What- 
ever outer  reality  answers  to  motion  creates  in  us  that 
feeling.  Whatever  outer  reality  answers  to  matter  in- 
duces that  feeling.  The  outer  reality  bears  the  same  rela- 
tion to  our  conception  of  space,  motion,  and  matter,  as  tlie 
fingers,  fleas'  feet  and  knife-blade  do  to  the  tickle,  itchiness 
and  pain.  A  picture  in  perspective  (illustrated  by  stereop- 
tieon  views)  will  stir  iTp  in  the  proper  nerve-centres  a  sen- 
sation of  de})th  or  distance  in  space,  although  we  know  it 
is  not  the  same  as  the  outer  reality  that  usually  stirs  up 
the  same  feeling.  We  know  it  is  on  a  flat  surface.  A 
stereoscope  will  make  the  sensation  more  intense.  A 
rotating  Geissler-tube,  when  illuminated,  may  be  made  to 
induce  the  sensation  of  right-hand  motion  when  really 
rotating  toward  the  left,  or  of  left-hand  motion  when 
whirling  toward  the  right,  or  of   no  motion  at  all,  when, 


The  Relativity  of  Knowledge.  35 

relative  to  other  senses,  it  is  in  rapid  motion.  On  a  rail- 
road-train we  have  all  observed  how  our  motion-centres 
have  been  agitated  into  a  belief  that  we  are  moving,  when 
it  is  another  train  that  moves,  and  not  ours.  As  space  and 
motion  are  but  forms  of  our  own  consciousness,  having 
some  answering  correspondence  out  of  the  consciousness 
that  produces  them,  so  the  tastes  and  odors,  as  well  as  the 
colors  and  forms,  of  objects,  are  in  the  same  condition  of 
relativity.  If  I  look  at  a  grain  of  sand  through  a  magnify- 
ing glass,  I  observe  that  what  I  see  is  magnified ;  but  the 
grain  itself  does  not  change  its  size.  If  what  I  see  is 
made  larger,  but  the  thing  itself  is  not  made  larger,  the 
conclusion  is  inevitable  that  I  do  not  see  the  thing  itself. 
This  is  no  trickery  of  logic,  but  unchallengeable  reason. 
With  crossed  fingers  I  feel  one  marble  as  two.  I  do  not 
actually  feel  two  marbles,  but  two  sensations  proceeding 
from  one.  If  what  I  feel  is  doubled,  and  the  thing  itself 
not  doubled,  I  do  not  feel  the  thing  itself. 

Take  oxygen,  hydrogen  and  carbon  atoms.  Arrange 
them  one  way  and  you  have  oxalic,  acetic,  tartaric  or  citric 
acids.  Arrange  them  another  way  and  you  have  sugar, 
glucose  or  levulose.  Arrange  them  other  ways,  and  you 
have  tannin,  or  the  various  non-nitrogenous  bitter  princi- 
ples of  plants.  Surely,  the  same  thing  cannot  in  itself  be 
sweet,  sour  and  bitter.  The  various  new  arrangements 
only  enable  it  to  tickle  our  nerve-centres  in  a  somewhat 
different  manner.  Turpentine,  oil  of  lemon,  oil  of  bergamot, 
oil  of  orange,  and  oil  of  pepper,  are  not  only  composed  of 
the  same  kinds  of  atoms  but  in  precisely  the  same  propor- 
tions. The  shapes  into  which  they  are  built  enable  them 
to  affect  our  nerve-centres  differently.  The  scarlet  and 
yellow  iodide  of  mercury  vary  only  in  the  way  each  crys- 
tallizes, and  the  color  can  be  changed  at  will.  (The  lecturer 
illustrated  by  exhibiting  scarlet  iodide  of  mercury  on  a 
paper.  Heating  it  over  a  lamp,  it  became  yellow.  Crush- 
ing the  yellow  crystals  with  the  hand,  it  again  became 
scarlet.)  Salts  of  mercury,  and  iodine,  may  exist  together 
as  perfectly  transparent  solutions,  or  as  densely  opaque 
ones,  according  as  they  are  able  to  affect  our  nerves.  (Illus- 
trated by  experiment.)  Cold  substances  brought  togetlier 
may  produce  heat. 

The  relativity  of  all  these  properties  appears  plain  after 
a  few   such  considerations  as  the  following :  Dissolve  a 


36  The  Relativity  of  Knowledge. 

small  quantity  of  tartaric  acid  in  a  large  amount  of  water, 
until  it  is  just  slightly  sour.  Let  one  gentleman  swallow 
some  very  sour  solution  slowly,  and  another  one  a  very  sweet 
one.  Now  let  both  taste  the  dilute  acid.  No.  1  will  de- 
clare it  positively  sweet,  and  No.  2,  annoyingly  sour.  The 
thing  itself  is  surely  not  both  sweet  and  sour  at  the  same 
time.  Put  your  right  hand  into  hot  Avater  for  a  while,  and 
your  left  into  cold.  Now  withdraw  both  and  insert  them 
into  a  single  pail  containing  te])id  water.  To  the  right 
hand  it  will  be  cold,  and  to  the  left  hot.  Surely  tluit  water 
is  not  both  hot  and  cold  at  the  same  instant.  Let  two  i)er- 
sons  stare,  the  one  at  a  very  red  object  and  the  other  at  a 
bright  green  one ;  then  let  them  simultaneously  look  at  a 
light  pink  object.  The  man  Avho  stared  at  the  green  will  be 
sure  it  is  bright  red,  and  the  man  who  stiired  at  the  red 
will  be  equally  sure  it  is  bright  green.  (Illustrated  on  the 
screen,  by  the  stereopticon.)  Is  it  both  red  and  green  at 
the  same  time  ? 

The  fact  revealed  by  all  these  experiments  is  that  sensa- 
tions are  states  of  the  conscious-being,  and  that  we  have 
no  reason  for  assuming  that  things  in  themselves  are  like 
the  sensations  they  produce.  Changes  in  the  individual 
produce  changes  in  the  sensations,  though  we  are  morally 
certain  that  no  corresponding  change  occurs  in  the  external 
things  themselves.  Every  one  has  observed  how  differ- 
ently his  taste  has  been  affected  by  the  same  articles  of 
food  when  sick  and  when  well.  So  decided,  indeed,  does 
this  difference  become,  that  things  at  one  time  desired,  at 
another  become  positively  obnoxious.  There  is  no  change  in 
the  food.  The  change  is  in  the  patient.  Then,  on  the 
other  hand,  tobacco,  at  first  decidedly  disgusting,  comes  at 
last  to  be  craved  as  a  sweet  morsel.  If  taste  was  an  actiud 
quality  existing  in  the  things,  no  change  of  the  individual 
could  alter  it.  AVe  do  know  Avith  certainty  how  things 
affect  lis,  but  when  Ave  assert  that  this  effect  is  like  that 
Avhich  caused  it  Ave  go  farther  than  sound  reasoning  can 
tolerate. 

While  thus  subject  to  fluctuations,  there  is  a  sort  of  ])ar- 
allelism  between  sensations  and  the  things  Avliich  induce 
them.  Sugar  Avhen  out  of  the  mouth,  though  free  from 
sweetness,  does  possess  some  property  that  in  the  mouth 
produces  SAveetness.  A  cannon,  fired  Avhere  there  are  no 
ears,  may  evoke  no  sound ;  but  there  is  something  produced 


The  Relativity  of  Knowledge.  37 

that  is  capable  of  stimulating  ears,  when  present,  into 
hearing  a  loud  sound.  The  object  I  call  red  may  be  inno- 
cent of  redness  in  the  absence  of  eyes,  yet  it  always  has 
something  that  stirs  up  the  red  sensation  when  eyes  are 
turned  toward  it  in  the  light.  The  universe  emptied  of 
conscious  beings  would  probably  have  no  length,  breadth 
or  thickness.  It,  however,  would  still  possess  some  con- 
stant properties  as  essential  to  its  being  as  dimensions  are 
to  our  conception  of  it.  If  we  compare  things  in  them- 
selves to  the  German  language  and  our  knowledge  of  them 
to  the  English  language,  it  will  be  seen  that,  so  far  as  prac- 
tical, every-day  aifairs  are  concerned,  our  ignorance  is  not 
pressingly  important.  All  our  ideas  can  freely  be  conveyed 
by  the  English  language,  and,  while  a  knowledge  of  Ger- 
man might  also  have  its  advantages,  we  can  really  get  along 
very  nicely  without  it.  Even  so,  our  knowledge  of  phe- 
nomena can  answer  our  requirements  very  well  without  our 
knowing  the  answering  facts  of  the  noinnena.  Should  an 
English-speaking  person  be  called  upon  to  give  up  his  lan- 
guage, he,  if  he  knew  no  other,  would  feel  that  such  an 
edict  demolished  all  language.  When  the  doctrine  of  the 
relativity  of  knowledge  proves  to  us  that  in  the  actual  uni- 
verse of  being  there  are  neither  time  nor  space,  matter  nor 
motion,  form  nor  force,  as  we  know  them,  to  those  who  can- 
not look  beyond  this  fact  it  seems  positively  a  denial  of 
being  itself.  The  Englishman  forbidden  to  speak  English 
and  unacquainted  with  any  other  language  is  struck  per- 
fectly dumb.  Conscious  beings  forbidden  to  think  in  terms 
of  thought  and  experience  are  launched  into  helpless  un- 
thinkability.  To  conceive  of  matter  without  lengthy 
breadth  and  thickness  is  utterly  impossible ;  and  to  attempt 
to  picture  the  universe  in  thought  as  spaceless  would  be 
absui'd.  If  we  are  practical  realists  we  have  our  theory  of 
the  universe.  We  believe  it  to  be  just  as  it  alfects  us.  If 
we  are  savants,  we  know  this  is  absurd,  and  so  we  alter  it 
into  terms  of  extension  and  motion.  If  we  are  idealists, 
we  assert  it  as  consciousness  impressing  consciousness.  If 
we  are  solipsists,  Ave  declare  it  to  be  non-existent  save  in 
ourselves.  Realist,  scientist,  idealist  and  solipsist  are  sim- 
ply theorizers  producing  languages  of  their  own,  while  the 
true  language  lies  behind  and  out  of  reach  of  all.  We 
must  have  a  theory  of  the  universe  of  some  kind.  With- 
out it  life  would  be,  so  far  as  we  know,  impossible.     The 


38  The  Relativity  of  Knowledge. 

Agnostic  perceives  that  all  these  theories  are  wrong,  yet 
knows  that  he  is  himself  powerless  to  provide  the  right 
one.  He  therefore  adopts  the  one  that  practically  is  least 
objectionable,  and  that,  of  course,  is  usually  the  trans- 
figured realism  of  Science.  To  his  mind  there  naturally 
comes  a  condition  of  perfect  freedom  from  bias  of  a  fixed 
type.  He  sees  that  pretensions  to  supernatural  knowledge 
are  unfounded,  but  he  also  sees  that  the  claims  of  impossi- 
bility hurled  at  such  knowledge  by  the  sceptic  are  just  as 
little  susceptible  of  proof.  Fairy  tales  and  Arabian  Night 
tales  he  may  look  upon  with  incredulity,  but  of  the  facts 
they  record  he  Avill  not  be  caught  asserting  the  absolute 
impossibility.  Modern  Science  itself  has  forced  upon  us 
conclusions  that  seem  as  devoid  of  reason,  to  non-scientific 
people,  as  the  tales  of  Baron  Munchausen.  Take  for  in- 
stance, the  idea  of  the  physicist  concerning  the  universal 
ether.  Space,  he  tells  us,  must  be  filled  everywhere,  even 
in  a  so-called  vacuum,  with  a  substance  immensely  more 
elastic  and  dense  than  the  densest  steel.*  The  dense  walls 
we  cannot  penetrate  are  vastly  less  dense  than  the  space  we 
think  is  vacant,  and  in  which  we  move  around  without  per- 
ceptible resistance.  The  undulatory  theory  of  light  and 
heat  force  him  to  this  conclusion  in  spite  of  himself.f 
School  text-books  usually  endeavor  to  avoid  this  rock  of 
stumbling  by  avoiding  its  mention.  Maxwell's  new  mag- 
netic theory  of  the  cause  of  the  undulations  strengthens 
the  implication  by  giving  more  evidence  of  it.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  correlation  and  conservation  of  physical  forces, 
upon  which  we  may  safely  say  our  whole  civilization  has 
been  reared,  becomes  an  unthinkable  jumble  of  unintellig- 
ibility  without  it.  Our  railways,  steamboats,  steam  looms, 
and  myriad  forms  of  steam  engines,  our  telegrai)hs,  tele- 
])hones,  electric  lights  and  electric  engines,  our  modern 
cheiiiistry,  Avith  its  means  of  supplying  beauty  in  clothing, 
purity  in  food,  and  medicines,  have  all  been  added  by  fol- 
lowing the  very  line  of  thought  that  makes  theoretically 
necessary  this  dense,  elastic  ether.  The  doctrine  of  Evolu- 
tion is  itself  the  outcome  of  a  chain  of  facts  that  point  to 
this  seeming  absurdity  as  a  solemn  truth. 

Only  totally  denying  the  existence  of  matter,  or  accept- 
ing the  more  rational  hypothesis  of  rhythm  among  attenu- 


*  Jevon's  I'rinciples  of  Science,  Vol.  2,  p.  145. 

t  Familiar  Lectures  on  Scientitic  .Subjects,  j).  282. 


The  Relativity  of  Knowledge.  39 

ated  atoms,  will  help  us  transcend  the  difficulty.  !N"o  mat- 
ter how  continuous  a  body  may  seem  to  be  to  our  senses, 
chemistry  and  physics  join  hands  in  telling  us  that  this  is 
a  mere  illusion.  The  most  solid  steel  is  built  of  molecules 
that  are  not  and  cannot  be  in  actual  contact  with  each 
other.*  They  exist  in  it  like  a  cloud  of  gnats  or  flies,  and 
only  appear  one  instead  of  many  because  they  move  to- 
gether as  a  niass.  If  two  pieces  of  steel  resist  each  other, 
and  refuse  passage-way  the  one  to  the  other,  it  is  not  be- 
cause there  is  not  room  enough  for  both  pieces  within  the 
same  superficial  limits,  but  because  they  are  acting  like  two 
belligerent  flocks  of  birds,  and  meeting  with  their  mole- 
cules, breast  to  breast.  How  easy  it  would  be  for  two 
flocks  of  pigeons  to  pass  each  other  in  opposite  directions, 
without  the  least  resistance,  if  they  would  only  fly  in  inter- 
mediate spaces.  A  distant  onlooker  could  then  see  them 
apparently  occupying  the  same  space  at  the  same  time. 
The  mass  of  a  cubic  inch  of  mercury  is  far  greater  than 
that  of  a  cubic  inch  of  aluminum,  and  yet  the  resistance 
of  the  latter  is  far  greater  than  that  of  the  former.  If  a 
trip-hammer  is  adjusted  in  its  rhythm  to  seconds,  and  your 
finger  can  be  waved  to  and  fro  beneath  it  in  intermediate 
time,  no  harm  can  befall  you.  A  single  maladjustment 
will  cause  resistance,  or  the  destruction  of  your  finger. 
Let  the  rhj'-thm  of  the  molecules  of  this  disk  be  adjusted  to 
the  rhythm  of  those  of  my  hand  so  that  they  can  freely 
pass  each  other,  and  practically  the  desk  will  have  become 
non-existent.  Adjust  those  of  our  bodies  to  those  of  the  wall, 
and  Ave  will  no  longer  need  doors.  The  wall  resists  light 
just  as  it  does  our  bodies ;  but  glass  that  may  be  much  denser 
allows  that  same  light  to  go  through,  practically  unob- 
structed. As  the  light  goes  through  the  glass,  or  electricity 
through  a  copper  wire,  although  neither  can  force  a  passage- 
way through  a  brick,  so  we  go  through  the  solid  ether,  but 
cannot  pierce  the  less  dense  wall.  Solidity  is  only  a  term 
belonging  to  relations,  and  not  an  actual  condition  of  being 
in  itself.  For  anything  that  we  can  know  to  the  contrary 
there  may  be,  right  here  and  now,  passing  through  us  and 
this  world,  some  planet  invisible  to  us,  with  mountains, 
oceans,  lakes,  rivers,  cities  and  inhabitants.!  To  either 
affirm   or   deny   betrays   our   mental   weakness.     We   are 


*  Maxwell's  Theorj-  of  Heat,  pp.  281  -287. 

t  Jevon's  Principles  of  Science,  Vol.  2,  p.  145.    Young's  "  Works,"  Vol.  1,  p.  417. 


40  The  Relativitij  of  Knowledge. 

bound  either  to  limit  infinite  nature  to  our  finite  concep- 
tions, or  to  fly  off  at  an  insane  tangent  to  the  region  of 
fairies.  We  simply  do  not  and  cannot  know,  one  way  or 
the  other.  For  aught  that  we  know  to  the  contrary,  the 
heavenly  bodies  above  may  play  the  part  of  molecules  in 
forming  worlds  as  much  vaster  than  ours  as  it  is  larger 
than  a  hydrogen  molecule.  In  such  colossal  globes  there 
may  be  intelligent  creatures  of  corresponding  magnitude, 
to  whom  our  little  world  may  be  merely  a  tiny  molecule. 

Again,  downward  amid  our  smallest  specks  of  hydrogen, 
may  be  complexities  as  great  as  those  to  which  we  are 
accustomed.  There  may  be  beings  and  a  civilization  there. 
No  one  can  tell.  If  our  world  and  all  it  contains,  with  all 
visible  things,  should  instantly  expand  from  its  present 
size  to  that  of  a  giant  planet  having  globes  of  the  precent 
conceived  size  as  its  molecules,  we  could  not  know  it.  If 
at  the  next  instant  it  should  shrink  back  again,  and  past 
our  present  conceived  point,  to  that  of  a  hydrogen  mole- 
cule, we  and  all  other  things  changing  in  perfect  accord, 
the  alteration  would  be  equally  unknown  to  us.  All  our 
relations  remaining  fixed,  no  method  of  experiment  or  in- 
vestigation could  tell  of  the  change.  Perhaps  now,  while 
we  speak,  such  a  swing  may  be  incessantly  going  on.  We 
know  that,  relative  to  one  another,  the  sizes  we  bear  are 
the  same  as  they  were  ten  minutes  ago ;  but  we  do  not 
know  whether  in  an  absolute  or  infinite  scale  we  have  not 
expanded  or  shrunk  billions  of  miles  in  our  dimensions. 
We  are  in  utter  darkness  upon  the  subject,  and  it  is  well 
for  us  to  know  it.  Ignorant  conceit,  only,  shrinks  from 
such  considerations. 

As  we  do  not  know  whether  we  move  at  all  or  not,  or,  if 
we  do,  in  what  direction  we  move,  so  we  do  not  know  what 
size  we  absolutely  bear,  or  whether  we  bear  any  constant 
size  at  all.  IMotion  and  size  are  meaningless  terms  outside 
of  mere  relations.  Turning  to  the  weights  of  bodies,  Ave 
find  ourselves  forced  to  the  similar  conclusions,  although 
weight  is  our  test  of  mass.  The  amount  of  substance  in  a 
thing  is  supposed  to  be  known  by  its  weight.  A  grocer, 
with  what  we  call  accurate  scales,  gives  us  a  pound  of  but- 
ter. Carried  to  the  equator  it  is  found  to  be  less  than  a 
pound.  Carried  to  the  pole  it  is  found  to  be  more  tlian  a 
pound.  Taken  to  the  moon,  it  would  require  nine  tinu^s  as 
much  to  make  a  pound.     Taken  to  the  sun,  it  would  weigh 


The  Relativity  of  Knowledge.  41 

a  ton.  Taken  to  a  star  a  thousand  times  larger  than  Sol, 
it  would  weigh  1,000  tons.  Taken  oft"  into  the  depths  of 
space  far  from  any  matter,  it  Avould  gradually  get  less  and 
less  in  weight,  down  to  the  minutest  fraction  of  a  grain. 
What  is  its  absolute  weight  ?  Has  it  any  ?  Its  mass,  its 
form,  and  all  its  properties  which  we  knoAV,  belong  only  to 
its  relations  in  the  same  manner.  In  itself  it  has  none  of 
them. 

Absolute  truth  is  hidden  from  us  at  every  turn  and  in 
every  place.  To  us  things  are  true  or  false,  right  or  wrong, 
good  or  evil  according  as  they  relate  themselves  to  our 
understanding.  To  say  whether  a  thing  is  true  or  not  we 
must  know  its  relations.  Principles  and  ideas  are  true  or 
false  according  to  the  standpoint  we  take  in  viewing  them. 
Men  may  positively  contradict  each  other,  and  both  be  true 
and  right.  In  the  illustration  already  given,  the  man  walk- 
ing toward  the  stern  in  the  steamboat  bound  for  Xew  York, 
can  honestly  maintain  that  he  is  going  eastward  at  the  rate 
of  three  miles  an  hour,  while  a  more  far-seeing  traveling 
companion  contradicts  him,  and  says  he  is  not  going  east- 
ward but  westward,  and  not  going  three  miles  an  hour  but 
twenty-seven  miles  an  hour.  A  still  more  far-seeing  gentle- 
man can  honestly  and  truly  contradict  both,  and  assert  that 
the  walker  is  right  in  saying  he  is  going  eastward,  but 
wrong  in  saying  his  speed  is  only  three  miles  an  hour ;  for 
it  is  over  900  miles  an  hour.  Unless  all  of  them  can  keep 
their  tempers,  and  lionestly  try  to  find  out  what  the  others 
mean,  each  will  conclude  that  the  others  are  either  fools  or 
stubborn  knaves.  The  zeal  that  kills,  punishes,  and  hates 
one's  fellows,  because  they  disagree  with  us,  is  born  of  the 
belief  that  man  can  possess  absolute  and  unchangeable  knowl- 
edge. To  the  zealot,  a  thing  is  either  true  or  false,  always  and 
under  all  circumstances.  He  cannot  see  that  the  highest 
truth  is  only  the  last  point  to  which  our  minds  have  shifted 
along  a  contradictory  line.  Everything  we  call  truth  is 
only  tentative.  It  is  the  synthesis  of  all  the  facts  we  have 
mastered.  Additional  facts  will  carry  us  beyond,  to  a 
point  that  will  make  our  last  belief  appear  a  falsehood. 
Certain  things  are  good  and  true  to  our  present  form  of 
civilization.  Change  this  form,  and  good  becomes  bad, 
right  wrong,  and  truth  error.  Within  this  civilization,  and 
harmonic  with  its  structure,  there  are  truths  that  are  now 
and  to  us  positively  true.     Change   the   civilization,  and 


42  The  Relativity  of  Knowledge. 

that  which  was  before  harmonic,  and  therefore  good,  may 
become  discordant  and  therefore  bad. 

The  believer  in  the  Relativity  of  Knowledge  must  neces- 
sarily be  a  free  man  mentally.  He  can  listen  dispassion- 
ately to  the  wildest  dreams  of  Utopia,  and  say  "  Yes,  when 
men  change  in  such  and  such  ways  your  ideal  may  be  real- 
ized," Mohammedan,  Brahmin,  Anarchist,  Mormon,  Spir- 
itualist, Materialist,  Catholic,  Protestant,  Atheist  and  The- 
ist,  all  alike  can  tell  their  story  to  him,  and  he  will  per- 
ceive that  every  one  of  them  has  ideas  that  occupy  proper 
places  somewhere  along  the  path  of  the  shifting  pendulum 
of  relativity.  They  all  occupy,  in  relation  to  each  other, 
lower  and  higher  planes  of  thought,  containing  some  rela- 
tive truth  and  a  good  deal  of  even  relative  error.  The 
latter  is  born  of  lack  of  knowledge  of  facts.  The  Agnos- 
tic is  a  man  who  is  completely  disenthralled  from  the  nar- 
row prejudices  so  characteristic  of  his  race.  He  is  as  earn- 
est in  defending  the  truth  of  definite  relations  as  anybody, 
but  he  does  not  fight  over  the  question  as  to  the  absolute- 
ness of  such  relations.  He  knows  that  everything  is  shift- 
ing incessantly,  and  that  the  truth  of  to-day  may  be  the 
error  of  to-morrow.  He  has  discovered  this  truth  of 
truths,  and  realized,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  words,  the 
exact  meaning  of  that  saying  of  Jesus,  <'And  ye  shall 
know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  freer"  (John 
viii.,  32.) 


PRIMITIVE     MAN 


BY 

Z.  SIDNEY  SAMPSON 

Author  of  "The  Evolution  of  Theology." 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology";  Lyell's  "Antiquity  of 
Man";  Winchell's  " Pre- Adamites " ;  Joly's  " Man befoi-e Metals"  ; 
Force's  " Prehistoric  Man " ;  Lubbock's  "Prehistoric  Times,"  and 
"Origin  of  Civilization";  Keary's  "  Datvn  of  History";  Lind's 
"Man";  Nadaillac's  "Prehistoric  Man  in  America";  Nillson's 
^'Prehistoric  ManinSkandinavia" ;  Evans'  "  Ancient  Stone  Imple- 
ments in  Great  Britain,"  and  "Bronze  Implements  in  Great  Brit- 
ain"; Quatrefage's  "  The  Human  Race  " ;  Tylor's  "Anthropol- 
ogy," "Primitive  Culture,"  and  "Early  History  of  Mankind'"; 
Wilson's  "Anthropology";  Wright's  "The  Ice  Age  in  North 
America";  Wood's  "Natural  History  of  Man";  Lewis's  "The 
Antiquity  of  Man  in  Eastern  America"  (in  Am.  Geologist,  1880). 

(44) 


PRIMITIVE    MAN.* 


Man,  whence  and  whither  ?  These  problems  have  puzzled 
all  the  ages  and  perplexed  all  the  philosophies.  If  the 
most  advanced  doctrine  of  Evolution  be  true,  and  if  not 
only  the  complex  physical  organization  of  Man,  but  his 
royal  intellect  as  well,  have  been  compacted  of  the  nebulous 
mists  of  the  ancient  heavens,  the  mystery  and  wonder  are 
intensified  in  manifold  degrees,  and  man  becomes  a  greater 
enigma  to  himself  than  ever. 

"We  walk  between  two  eternities,"  said  Diderot.  "Our 
birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting,"  writes  Wordsworth. 
Says  the  Sphinx,  in  Emerson's  Poem : 

"Who'll  tell  me  my  secret 
The  ages  have  kept  ? 
1  awaited  the  seer, 
While  they  slumbered  and  slept;  — 
The  fate  of  the  man-child ; 
The  meaning  of  Man ; 
Known  fruit  of  the  unknown.".  .  . 

Something,  however, — -thanks  to  the  science  of  late  years, 
which  has  supplanted  the  former  guess-work  that  went  by 
the  name  of  science, —  is  known  of  the  character  of  man's 
life  upon  the  earth  prior  to  historic  records ;  and  the 
same  science  is  pressing  hopefully  onward  to  open  new 
avenues  of  exploration,  and  to  perfect  such  knowledge  as 
we  possess. 

In  our  course  of  lectures  last  year  we  were  amply 
instructed  as  to  the  present  accomplishments  of  science  on 
the  question  of  the  "Descent  of  Man."  We  are  now,  in  a 
supplementary  way,  to  inquire  what  has  been  the  life  record 
of  man  since  the  period  when  first  he  stood  forth  as  truly 
man,  asserting  through  some  sujjcrior,  though  at  first,  slight 
prescience,  his  mastery  over  the  mere  brutes  that  perish. 
If  the  conclusions  are  subversive  of  some  cherished  legends 
of  the  historic  past,  yet  here,  as  on  so  many  other  lines  of 
Evolution,  we  obtain  a  more   unified   and   coherent,  and 

*  COPYEIGUT,  1890,  by  James  H.  West. 


46  Primitive  Man. 

thereby  a  more  reverent  conception  of  the  totality  of 
Nature  and  of  Man,  and  may  be  reconciled  to  the  loss  of 
that  which  the  more  credulous  past  held  worthy  of  belief; 
for  as  these  myths  of  ancient  times  have  enriched  the 
imagination,  and  stimulated  the  faith  in  an  Unknown,  so 
have  they  entered  into  tlie  life  of  the  Present,  which  is  the 
sum  of  all  the  Past,  and  have  but  been  transformed  into 
loftier  ideals. 

The  establishment,  within  a  recent  period,  upon  a  satis- 
factory scientific  basis,  of  the  fact  of  the  great  antiquity  of 
man  upon  the  earth,  was  primarily  due  to  the  results  of 
investigations  regarded,  at  the  time,  as  of  but  slight  conse- 
quence, and  therefore,  like  so  many  other  preludes  to  the 
discovery  of  important  scientific  truths,  wholly  under- 
valued, and,  indeed,  for  a  considerable  time,  wholly  disre- 
garded. The  credit  of  inaugurating  the  line  of  research 
Avhereby  has  been  ultimately  demonstrated  the  existence  of 
primitive  races  for  tens,  if  not  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
years  anterior  to  all  historic  records,  belongs  to  the  French 
scientist,  M.  Boucher  de  Perthes.  Possessed  by  the  energy 
and  enthusiasm  of  a  truly  scientific  spirit,  he  devoted  him- 
self from  the  year  1830  to  1841  to  a  thorough  exploration 
of  the  ancient  caves,  peat-mosses  and  diluvial  deposits  in 
the  vicinity  of  Abbeville,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Somme, 
in  France.  During  this  five-years'  labor  he  unearthed  a 
large  quantity  of  flint  weapons  and  tools  of  various  kinds, 
evidently  shaped  by  artificial  means,  having  surfaces  and 
edges  roughly  chipped,  and  obviously  designed  for  use  as 
spears,  arrow-heads,  axes,  knives  and  hammers.  The  ques- 
tion immediately  suggested  was  as  to  the  age  of  these 
inqdements.  To  this  geology  furnished  a  reply.  Tlie 
objects  were  found  to  be  incrusted  with  material  of  a 
yellowish  tinge,  clearly  not  due  to  the  substance  of  the  ob- 
jects themselves,  but  to  the  ferruginous  nature  of  the  soil  in 
which  they  had  been  imbedded.  In  a  certain  layer  of  the 
diluvium  was  found  the  character  of  such  deposit  as  would 
have  caused  the  incrustation,  and,  if  the  objects  were 
imbedded  in  it  at  the  time  of  its  formation,  some  approx- 
imate idea  could  be  obtained  as  to  the  age  of  the  inqjle- 
ments.  "If,"  as  he  says  in  his  report  upon  these  investi- 
gations, as  quoted  by  Prof.  Joly  in  his  work,  "  Man  before 
Metals,"  ''they  were  in  tlie  bed  from  tlie  beginning,  tlie 
problem  was  solved,  and  the  man  who  made  the  implement 


Primitive  Maji.  47 

was  anterior  to  the  cataclysm  to  which  the  deposit  owed  its 
formation.  In  this  case  there  was  no  possibility  of  doubt. 
Diluvian  deposits  do  not,  like  peat  bogs,  present  an  elastic 
and  penetrable  mass"  (i.e.  a  mass  into  which  objects  could 
have  been  forced  by  various  external  agencies),  <'nor  do  they, 
like  the  bone-caves,  present  a  gaping  chasm,  into  which 
objects  might  have  been  thrown  by  torrents,  or  into  which 
they  might  have  been  conveyed  by  men  or  animals,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  each  period  is  sharply  defined.  The  layers 
are  disposed  horizontally,  the  strata  differ  in  color  and  sub- 
stance. If  this  work  of  human  hands  has  remained  there 
from  the  first,  as  irremovable  as  the  bed  itself,  then  it  had 
a  prior  existence,  and  these  rude  stones,  in  all  their  imper- 
fections, prove  the  existence  of  man  no  less  surely  than 
such  a  building  as  the  Louvre  itself  could  have  done." 
This  was  evidently  a  true  scientific  induction,  inferred  in 
accordance  with  the  well  recognized  scientific  formula  that 
the  opposite  of  the  proposition  cannot  be  conceived  as 
true. 

The  question  as  to  the  age  of  the  diluvium  itself  makes 
it  necessary  for  us  to  turn  a  few  leaves  of  the  geological 
record.  As  set  forth  in  the  subjoined  table,*  the  periods 
with  Avhich  we  have  to  deal  are  of  the  Tertiary  and  Quater- 
nary epochs,  these  having  been  preceded  by  the  immensely 
long  eras  of  the  Primary  and  Secondary,  in  which  it  is  not 
claimed  that  any  traces  of  man's  existence  have  been  dis- 
covered. 

Considering  now  the  question  as  to  the  possible  or  prob- 
able existence  of  man  in  the  several  epochs  of  the  Tertiary, 
it  is  agreed  that  no  traces  of  human  remains  or  human 
workmanship  are  discoverable  in  the  earliest,  i.e.  the 
Eocene.  The  mere  absence  of  human  remains  does  not, 
however,  conclude  the  question,  for  such  are  but  rarely 
found  in  the  long  subsequent  Pleistocene  strata,  whence, 
at  the  same  time,  thousands  of  flint  implements  have  been 
excavated.  But  the  argument  from  the  character  of  the 
fauna  of  the  period  militates  strongly  against  the  prob- 
ability of  man's  existence.  Giving  here  the  conclusions  as 
summarized  by  Prof.  Fiske  in  his  interesting  essay  on 
"Europe  before  the  Arrival  of  Man,"  we  note  the  first 
appearance,  in  the  Eocene,  of  the  placental  mammals,  fol- 
lowing  the   marsupials    of   the  earlier  periods,  of   which 

*  See  next  page. 


48 


Primitive  Man. 


latter  but  few  species  remain.  But  the  placental  mammals 
of  the  Eocene  differ  so  widely  from  the  mammals  of  to-day 
as  not  to  be  recognized  as  related,  in  succession,  to  the 


Geological  Periods. 

Baces. 

Ages. 

1— i 

ALHTVIUM 

and 

RECENT 

DILUVIUM 

GLACIAL  EPOCH 

PLEISTOCENE 

or 

POST  PLIOCENE 

HISTORIC 

LAKE-DWELLERS 

DOLMEN  BUILDERS 

MOUND  BUILDERS 

PEAT  BEDS 

SHELL  MOUNDS 
CAVE  MEN 

RIVER  DRIFT  MEN- 

IRON 

BRONZE 

NEOLITHIC 

TRANSITION 

PERIOD 

PALAEOLITHIC 
PALEOLITHIC 

Ex 

PLIOCENE 
MIOCENE 
EOCENE 

PROBABLE 

APPEARANCE 

OF  MAN 

EXISTENCE  OF 
MAN  DOUBTFUL 

MAN  NON- 
EXISTENT 

PALAEOLITHIC 

latter,  except  through  careful  and  experienced  scientific 
research  and  classification ;  and  the  difference  consists, 
mainly,  in  their  far  closer  relationship  among  themselves, 
in  structure,  than  among  existing  orders  and  species.     In 


Primitive  Man.  49 

the  Eocene  we  find  the  ancestor  of  the  horse,  but  having 
several  toes,  instead  of  the  solid  hoof.  We  have  the  pro- 
genitor of  the  deer  and  antelope  species,  but  not  presenting 
the  special  characteristics  of  the  latter,  being  devoid  of 
horns  or  antlers.  The  nearest  approach  to  what  was  to  be 
man  is  discovered  in  the  lemur  and  lemuroid  ape.  The 
strange  circumstance  of  all,  however,  is  the  resemblance, 
in  form  and  structure,  between  the  hoofed  quadrupeds  and 
the  primates  (i.e.  the  lemur  and  ape  families).  In  other 
words,,  we  do  not  find  in  the  Eocene  any  of  the  existing 
species  or  genera,  but  only  fauna  of  the  fossil  orders,  from 
which  present  species  and  varieties  have,  by  a  slow  evolu- 
tion, diiferentiated. 

It  is  therefore,  argues  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins,  with  much 
force,  in  his  "Early  Man  in  Britain,"  altogether  improb- 
able that  man,  the  most  highly  complex  and  specialized  of 
all  the  primates,  with  his  manifold  special  characteristics 
and  adaptations  of  bodily  function,  to  say  nothing  of  his 
extraordinary  and  diversified  mental  processes,  should  have 
been  contemporaneous  with  a  fauna  which  had  not,  as  yet, 
developed  a  single  feature  of  physical  conformation  peculiar 
to  the  species  now  existing.  To  this  conclusion  add  the 
argument  from  the  non-existence,  so  far  as  now  known,  of 
human  remains  or  implements,  and  the  question  of  man's 
existence  in  the  Eocene  must  be  answered  in  the  negative. 

Coming  now  to  the  Miocene,  or  Middle  Tertiary,  the  dis- 
cussion turns  mainly  upon  the  fact,  or  otherwise,  of  the 
discovery  of  traces  of  man's  presence.  The  discovery  of 
carved  flints  below  certain  miocene  deposits  in  France  was 
announced  at  the  Prehistoric  Congress  in  Paris  in  1867,  and 
again  at  the  Prehistoric  Congress  in  Brussels  in  1872.  The 
announcement  caused  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion  among 
anthropologists,  which  continues  to  the  present  time,  some 
denying  wholly  that  these  carvings  are  the  work  of  man,  oth- 
ers being  doubtful,  some  few  admitting  it.  The  question  evi- 
dently awaits  further  exploration.  The  supposition  of  one 
eminent  scientist,  M.  Gaudry,  that  these  incisions  could 
have  been  made  by  the  great  man-like  ape  of  that  period, 
the  dryopithecus,  is  not  generally  accepted. 

With  reference  to  the  Pliocene  a  like  question  has 
been  raised  as  to  the  age  of  discoveries  of  the  same  and 
similar  character.  In  1844  the  finding  of  human  bones  in 
a  volcanic  breccia  upon  the  side  of  a  mountain  in  Prance, 


50  Primitive  Man. 

upon  the  opposite  side  of  which,  in  the  same  deposit,  were 
unearthed  bones  of  species  of  mammals  long  since  extinct, 
was  asserted  to  prove  man's  existence  in  the  Pliocene ;  but 
the  age  of  the  deposit  itself  has  been  questioned,  whether 
Pliocene  or  early  Quaternary.  In  1863,  the  discovery  of 
carved  flints  in  the  Pliocene  sands  of  Chartres  was  com- 
municated to  the  French  Institute ;  and  still  further,  in  the 
progress  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Portugal,  stone  imple- 
ments were  found  in  the  Pliocene  beneath  1200  feet  of 
superincumbent  rock.  Without  multiplying  instances,  for 
which  there  is  not  space,  the  consensus  of  scientific  author- 
ity is  strongly  to  the  effect  that  man  had  appeared  in  the 
latest  Tertiary  epoch.* 

But  with  the  close  of  the  Tertiary,  and  opening  of  the 
Quaternary,  all  doubt  ends.  In  the  Post  Pliocene,  or 
Pleistocene,  the  evidences  crowd  upon  us,  and  from  that 
period  the  evolution  of  man  in  physical  and  social  con- 
ditions may  be  traced,  not,  indeed,  with  entire  accuracy, 
but  with  reasonable  certainty.  Considering,  for  a  moment, 
the  geological  character  of  the  epoch,  as  necessary  to 
account  for  the  localities  of  origin  and  successive  migra- 
tions of  primeval  man,  we  note  that  the  conformation  of 
the  European  continent  was,  substantially,  as  at  present. 
It  is  asserted  that,  during  the  Pliocene,  inland  seas  extended 
from  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Baltic  to  the  Persian  Gulf, 
and  from  the  Caspian  to  the  Arctic,  thus  allowing  the 
warmer  southern  currents  of  the  Indian  ocean  to  modify 
the  severer  climate  of  Scandinavia  and  Russia.  Professor 
Geikie  claims  that  these  seas  disappeared  early  in  the 
Pliocene,  thereby  reducing  the  temperature  of  Northern 
Europe.  By  the  close  of  the  Pliocene  the  climate  of 
Northern  Europe  generally  had  become  considerably  colder. 
Throughout  the  early  Pleistocene  we  therefore  have  remark- 
able alternations  of  climate,  precisely  how  many  is  unknown, 
but  heralding  the  approach  of  the  long  Glacial  Epoch,  or 
constituting  interglacial  epochs,  of  which  two  at  least  are 
generally  admitted.  The  proofs  of  these  successive  warm- 
ings and  coolings  are  found  in  the  curious  intermixture  of 
fossil  remains  in  the  deposits  of  the  Pleistocene.  With 
the  remains  of  mammals  i)eculiar  to  present  tropical  areas, 
viz.,  the    lion,   leopard,  elephant,  etc.,  we    find   bones    of 


♦Further  evidences  are  collated  in  Prof.   E.  I).  Cope's  Lecture  on  "The 
Descent  of  Man,"  Brooklyn  Etliical  Association  "Evohition  Essays,"  p.  163. 


Primitive  Man.  51 

the  musk  sheep,  reindeer,  arctic  fox  and  chamois,  showing 
that  successive  cold  waves  had  forced,  at  one  epoch, 
the  arctic  fauna  far  south  of  their  present  locality,  and 
again  that  this  was  followed  by  a  rise  in  temperature  which 
permitted  the  animals  of  tropical  zones  to  exist  much  far- 
ther north  than  at  present. 

It  has  been  shown  that  men,  prior  to  the  Glacial  Epoch, 
or  savages  perhaps  rather,  of  probably  an  extremely  low  grade 
of  development,  without  pottery,  possibly  in  the  earliest 
periods  unacquainted  with  lire,  existed  contemporaneous- 
ly with  a  fossil  species  of  the  rhinoceros,  which  at  some 
warm  period  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  London  and  was  distrib- 
uted extensively  over  Xorthern  Europe.  They  were  anterior 
in  time,  in  France  and  Britain  at  least,  to  the  musk  sheep 
and  the  marmot,  animals  of  the  glacial  and  pre-glacial  epochs. 
The  flint  implements  of  these  tribes  are  of  the  roughest 
kind.  It  is  claimed  by  some  that  these  races  were  supplanted 
by  the  subsequent  Cave  Men ;  by  others  that  they  represent 
only  an  earlier  and  more  primitive  condition  of  the  latter. 
The  place  of  origin  of  Eiver-Drift  man  is  unknown  of 
course,  and  to  what  periods  immensely  remote  his  ancestry 
extended  it  is  still  less  possible  even  to  approximate.  He 
is  simply  the  earliest  of  our  own  species  whose  existence  is 
traceable,  and,  if  belonging  to  essentially  a  distinct  race  from 
his  successors,  he  has  vanished  into  the  night  of  the  past,  with 
only  the  most  rudely  chipped  flints  left  to  reveal  even  the 
fact  of  his  having  been  u^pon  the  earth. 

The  result  of  the  gradual  refrigeration  of  the  IS"orthern 
Hemisphere  was  the  Glacial  Period  of  the  Pleistocene,  and 
the  overlaying  of  all  the  countries  now  known  as  Finland 
and  Northern  Russia,  Scandinavia  and  Scotland,  and  the 
American  Continent  as  far  south  as  the  latitude  of  Phila- 
delphia, Avith  a  sheet  of  ice  many  hundreds  of  feet  in  thick- 
ness, sending  forth  immense  glaciers  still  farther  south- 
ward. The  occurrence  of  the  Glacial  Period  is  so  well 
established  as  to  have  become  one  of  the  commonplaces  of 
Geology.  The  proofs  from  the  striation  of  rocks  in  the 
northerly  and  central  portions  of  Asia,  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, caused  by  the  friction  upon  rock  surfaces  of  masses  of 
ice  in  motion,  and  now  still  being  produced  by  glacial  action 
in  the  Alps  and  elsewhere; — the  fact  of  old  river-beds 
existing  at  the  foot  of  mountains,  which  have  undoubtedly, 
in  past  ages,  been  the  scene  of  glacial  movement,  and  caused 


52  Primitive  Man. 

by  the  melting  of  the  ice  mass, —  the  deposit,  in  all  coun- 
tries, of  boulders  evidently  brought  from  regions  far  remote 
northerly  from  the  localities  where  deposited,  and  of  a  min- 
eralogical  character  wholly  different,  in  many  instances, 
from  that  of  the  soil  on  which  they  rest, —  are  matters  of 
ordinary  information.  The  important  result,  in  the  history 
of  primitive  man  of  the  ice  age,  in  Europe  certainly,  w%as 
the  migration  from  the  vicinity  of  our  present  arctic 
climate  into  the  central  and  southern-central  portions  of  the 
continent,  of  the  race  known  as  the  cave-men,  forced  south- 
erly by  the  exigencies  of  extreme  cold,  and  displacing  or 
exterminating  the  j)rior  people  of  the  river-drift,  who  have 
left  with  us  such  abundant  proofs  of  their  occupation  in 
the  countless  specimens  of  flints,  knives,  axes,  hammers 
and  weapons  with  which,  and  by  which,  their  existence  and 
name  are  identified.  The  cave  man  was  contemporaneous 
with  the  entire  glacial  era,  and  with  the  geological  period 
immediately  subsequent,  classed  by  scientists  as  the  Diluv- 
ian  OT-^Drift.  This  brings  us  once  more  to  the  formation  in 
which  M.  de  Perthes'  discoveries  Avere  first  made,  and  by 
him  made  available  for  further  scientific  inquiry. 

The  diluvian  deposit  was  largely  a  direct  consequence  of 
the  cessation  of  the  glacial  epoch  in  Europe,  caused  by  the 
gradual  increase  in  temperature  and  the  resultant  melting 
of  the  vast  ice  formations,  and  the  gradual  withdrawal  of 
the  southerly  line  of  glacial  action  to  the  remote  north 
once  more,  except  in  lofty  and  therefore  cold  altitudes  like 
those  of  the  Alps,  where  it  is  still  in  operation.  The  con- 
sequence of  this  general  melting  down  of  the  ice-deposits 
Avas  the  creation  of  extensive  river-floods,  which,  bearing 
along  the  great  mass  of  foreign  bodies  conveyed  southwardly 
by  the  glaciers,  formed  what  is  known  specifically  as  the 
diluvium  of  the  valleys  —  consisting  of  debris  from  the 
mountains,  gravels,  pebbles,  and  sediment  of  mud  and  sand 
frequently  impregnated  with  oxide  of  iron  (the  ferruginous 
layers  of  which  we  have  spoken),  and  with  calcareous  or 
chalky  material.  The  close  of  tlie  diluvian  period  brings 
us  to  the  alluvial  deposits  and  recent  period,  within  which 
no  terrestrial  changes  of  soil  or  climate  have  been  suflicieut 
materially  to  affect  the  evolution  of  tlie  race. 

I  return  now  to  the  discoveries  of  jVI.  de  Perthes.  With 
great  confidence  in  regard  to  the  bearing  of  these  u])on  tlm 
future  of  primitive  ethnology  and  archaeology,  he  submitted 


Primitive  Man.  53 

his  specimens  to  the  Institute,  with  the  usual  consequence  of 
arousing  skepticism,  and,  in  this  case,  ridicule.  But  he 
laughs  best  who  laughs  last,  and  prejudice  and  obtuseness 
finally  yielded  to  scientific  examination.  It  is  not  so  many 
years  indeed,  since  men  ceased  to  regard  these  strange, 
but  by  no  means  unusual  objects,  as  preternatural,  if  not 
supernatural,  or  "freaks  of  nature"  as  they  were  once 
termed.  The  ancients,  indeed,  classed  them  with  the 
supernatural,  and  had  called  them  ^^lapides  fulminis,^' 
implying  that  they  had  fallen  from  the  sky  with  the 
thunderbolt  —  and  ^^  ceraunioi  gemmce,'"  i.e.  heavenly  gems, 
on  the  theory  that  they  had  been  formed  on  the  earth  by 
the  fire  of  Jove;  so,  also,  "lightning-stones."  They  were 
used  in  certain  religious  ceremonies  by  Egyptians  and 
Romans.  Even  to-day  they  are  objects  of  superstitious 
regard  among  some  of  the  more  ignorant  of  the  peasantry, 
and  kept  by  them  carefully  as  having  power  to  ward  off 
disease  or  witchcraft.  But  even  among  scientists  these 
implements  had  not  received  the  attention  which  they 
deserved.  As  soon  as  investigation  was  commenced  and 
interest  aroused,  many  collections  were  found  to  have  been 
already  made,  available  for  further  study,  and  wliich  have 
materially  contributed  to  the  advancement  of  prehistoric 
archaeology. 

Following  Sir  John  Lubbock  and  others,  the  division  of 
the  age  of  primitive  man  which  has  been  generally  approved, 
is  that  into  the  palaeolithic,  or  old  stone,  and  the  neolithic, 
or  new  stone  periods, —  and  the  periods  of  bronze  and  of 
iron.  To  the  palaeolithic  are  assigned  the  eras  of  the  men 
of  the  river-drift  and  of  the  cave  men ;  but  it  should  be 
here  remarked  that  the  points  of  transition  between  these 
various  epochs,  as  well  as  the  length  of  the  periods  them- 
selves, are  extremely  vague  and  indeterminate.  Old  and 
new  stone  implements  are,  in  numerous  instances,  found  in 
the  same  locality,  and  neolithic  and  bronze  objects  are  also 
frequently  associated  —  and  both  these,  in  some  cases,  with 
implements  of  iron.  To  definitely  differentiate  the  periods 
is  equally  impossible  —  the  earlier  extend  into  the  later, 
so  that  any  chronological  arrangement,  except  of  the  most 
general  kind,  is  out  of  the  question.  So  far,  likewise, 
from  these  epochs  being  contemporaneous  in  all  parts  of 
the  world,  we  have  numerous  of  the  lower  and  some  of  the 
higher  of    the  savage   races  of    to-day,  and  some  of   the 


64  Primitive  Man. 

partly  civilized,  in  the  habitual  use  of  stone  implements  of 
the  later  stone  age.  It  has  therefore  been  properly  said 
that  a  given  kind  of  implement  indicates  rather  a  stage  of 
culture  than  a  classification  in  time.  So  regarded,  the 
palaeolithic  are  characteristic  of  the  earliest  man ;  —  these, 
roughly  hcAvn  and  chipped,  betoken  an  extremely  remote 
age.  The  specimens  consist  of  axes,  lance  and  arrow  heads, 
knives,  scrapers  for  preparing  skins,  and  hammers,  all  of 
the  most  primitive  type,  prepared  almost  exclusively  from 
flint,  except  where,  as  in  America,  jade  and  obsidian  are  more 
readily  obtained.  These  implements  abound  in  great  quan- 
tities, not  only  in  the  diluvian,  but  in  the  numerous  bone  caves 
of  various  ages,  and  megalithic  tombs,  in  peat  mosses,  shell 
mounds,  barrows,  crannoges  and  lake-dwellings. 

It  is  to  the  flints  discovered  in  the  bone-caves  that  we 
owe  the  second  important  deduction  as  to  man's  antiquity, 
for  here  we  discover  bones  of  extinct  species  of  animals 
intermingled  with  palaeolithic  implements.  If  the  imple- 
ments are  found  so  imbedded  wath  these  remains  as  to 
prove  contemporaneity  in  the  date  of  deposit,  we  have  a 
further  satisfactory  scientific  datum.  It  is  now  absolutely 
known  that  the  principal  species  of  animals  existent  dur- 
ing the  early  Quaternary  —  though  now  wholly  extinct- — 
were  the  mammoth,  the  Avoolly  rhinoceros,  the  cave  hyena, 
the  cave  bear,  the  cave  cat,  the  cave  lion,  and  the  Irish  elk. 
"With  the  bones  of  these  quaternary  fauna,  have  been  founil 
associated  not  only  flint  implements,  but  human  remains  as 
well,  under  circumstances  which  preclude  any  reasonable 
doubt  of  the  co-existence  of  man  Avith  the  above  enumer- 
ated species.  The  announcement  of  these  discoveries  was 
first  made  in  1828.  In  1833  tlie  caves,  of  Belgium  were 
thoroughly  explored,  and  skulls  and  portions  of  the  human 
skeleton  were  found  lying  not  only  above,  but  below,  fossil 
animals.  Sir  Charles  Lyell  first  opposed  the  theory,  but 
after  a  quarter  of  a  century  argued  in  su])port  of  it;  and 
when,  in  1858,  upon  a  thorough  examination  of  the  recently 
opened  cave  of  Brixham,  in  England,  an  entire  leg  of  the 
cave  bear  was  found  superimposed  upon  an  incrustation  of 
stalagmite,  which  itself  was  found  superimposed  upon 
flint  instruments,  the  proof  was  deemed  sufficient  for  the 
Royal  Society  to  endorse  the  pro])osition  of  the  existence 
of  Quaternary  man  as  fully  established. 

The  bone-caves  aboujid  in  all  parts  of  the  globe,  among 


Primitive  Man.  55 

the  most  interesting  being  those  found  in  the  cretaceous  or 
chalk  formation.  As  to  the  agencies  by  which  they  have 
become  thus  filled  with  human  and  animal  remains,  the 
action  of  river-floods  does  not  appear  to  have  been  the  sole 
cause,  though  it  may  have  been  one  of  the  most  efficient. 
As  has  been  remarked,  these  cavities  were,  for  a  length  of 
time  unknoAvn,  utilized  by  primitive  man,  as  well  as  by 
various  species  of  now  mostly  extinct  animals,  for  purposes 
of  residence,  and  for  temporary  shelter ;  both  probably 
carried  or  bore  into  them  the  animals  upon  which  they 
subsisted  or  preyed.  The  mere  juxtaposition  of  human 
and  animal  remains  does  not,  of  itself,  demonstrate  the 
great  antiquity  of  the  former,  for,  in  fact,  various  articles 
of  undoubtedly  recent  human  workmanship  have  been 
found  thus  associated.  But  ''  doubt  is  no  longer  reasonable 
when  the  bones  of  animals  and  those  of  our  own  species, 
uniformly  mixed,  imbedded  in  the  same  sediment,  and 
which  have  undergone  the  same  alterations  both  in  external 
characteristics  and  of  chemical  decomposition,  are  moreover 
covered  by  a  thick  layer  of  stalagmite  —  when  objects  of  a 
completely  primitive  industry  occupy  the  same  deposit 
with  bones  of  extinct  fauna.  And  finally,  when  we  find 
in  the  diluvian  strata  of  the  valleys,  manufactured  objects 
and  bones  exactly  like  those  discovered  in  caves  of  the 
same  date,  the  proofs  are  conclusive."  * 

Have  we  any  data  for  determining  or  approximating  the 
age  in  the  world's  history  of  the  glacial  period,  and  there- 
by the  time  of  existence  of  the  cave  men  and  their  prede- 
cessors ?  It  seems  that  we  have.  I  give  the  summary  of  the 
argument  as  set  forth  by  Professor  Fiske,  in  his  interesting 
essay  on  the  "  Arrival  of  Man  in  Europe."  The  conclusions 
there  stated  are  those  reached  by  Prof.  Croll.  The  chief 
cause  of  the  reduction  in  temperature,  Avhich  ultimately 
produced  the  ice  age,  was  an  alteration  in  the  earth's  orbit 
in  the  direction  of  greater  eccentricity. f  It  has  been  shown 
that  at  least  three  times  within  the  past  3,000,000  years 
this  eccentricity  has  reached  its  maximum,  with  the  result 


*  Prof.  X.  Joly,  Man  before  Metals. 

t  In  the  discussion  followintr  the  lecture,  Dr.  P.  H.  van  der  Weyde  sujifrested 
that  the  gradual  elevation  of  land-areas  into  the  region  of  i)erpetual  cold,  was 
a  simpler  and  more  reasonable  explanation  of  the  formerly  extensive  prev- 
alence of  glacial  phenomena,  which  are  still  observable  in  areas  of  high  eleva- 
tion. This  theory  would  require  ecjually  immense  periods  of  time  for  the 
deviation  of  these'  recurrent  periods  of  glacial  action,  and  would  equally  indi- 
cate the  early  appearance  of  man. 


56  Primitive  Man. 

that  the  difference  between  the  greatest  and  least  distances 
from  the  snn  has  been  between  lour  and  tive  times  as  great 
as  at  present.  That  is,  instead  of  being,  as  now,  a  differ- 
ence of  only  3,000,000  miles,  it  was  from  twelve  to  fourteen 
millions.  Furthermore,  owing  to  what  is  known  to  astron- 
omers as  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes,  at  regular  intervals 
of  10,50t)  years  the  winter  season  has  occurred  and  will  occur 
when  the  earth  is  in  aphelion,  or  at  the  longest  distance  from 
the  sun.  If,  now,  these  two  events  concur, —  that  is,  if  the 
greatest  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  hai)pens  at  a  time 
when  winter  occurs  in  aphelion, —  the  earth  would  be  in  mid- 
winter at  ninety-eight  millions  of  miles  distance  from  the 
sun,  instead  of,  as  at  present,  ninety-one  millions,  and  the 
"Winter  would  be  twenty-six  days  longer  than  Summer, 
instead  of,  as  now,  being  eight  days  shorter. 

Working  upon  these  data,  Prof.  Croll  asserts  that  the 
first  of  these  periods  of  great  eccentricity  began  2,650,000 
years  ago,  and  lasted  200,000  years ;  the  second  began 
880,000  years  since  and  lasted  160,000  years;  the  third 
commenced  240,000  years  ago  and  lasted  160,000  years. 
This  would  give  us,  since  the  termination  of  the  last  glacial 
era  (or  eras),  80,000  years.  But  it  is  certain  that  man 
of  the  river-drift  period  lived  in  pre-glacial  times,  and  if 
Ave  accept  the  conclusion  that  the  most  recent  glacial  era 
commenced  240,000  years  ago,  we  must  allow  not  less  than 
400,000  years  ago  as  the  date  of  the  close  of  the  Pliocene 
period,  and  the  probable  first  appearance  of  man.  Other 
theories  which  have  been  proposed  to  account  for  the 
Glacial  Age,  such  as  variations  in  the  intensity  of  solar 
radiation,  the  movement  of  the  earth  from  a  colder  into  a 
warmer  region  of  space,  alteration  in  the  axis  of  the  earth 
and  others,  are  fully  stated  and  criticized  in  the  twelfth 
chapter  of  Sir  John  Lubbock's  ''  Prehistoric  ]\lan,"  as  are 
also  investigations  into  existing  deposits  and  formations 
with  a  view  to  ascertaining  the  probable  antiquity  of  the 
stone  and  bronze  ages. 

With  the  disa})pearance  or  final  retreat  northward  of 
the  cave  men, —  now  represented  as  seems  probable,  if  they 
have  left  any  descendants,  by  the  Esquimaux  tribes  alone, — 
me  may  say  that  the  palaeolithic  age  as  a  generally  ])revailing 
stage  of  ])rimitive  life  closes,  and  we  observe  the  gradual 
appearance  of  the  ground  or  polished  stones  which  typify  the 


Primitive  Mon.  57 

neolithic  period.     A  word,  however,  is  necessary  as  to  the 
habits  and  customs  of  palaeolithic  man. 

iS'otwithstanding  assertions  to  the  contrary,  the  bnlk  of 
evidence  indicates  that  Quaternary  man  from  the  most 
remote  period  was  in  possession  of  lire.  According  to  one 
authority  it  Avas  known  to  him  as  far  back  as  the  Miocene, 
but  the  proofs  do  not  seem  to  warrant  this  belief.  But  in 
the  case  of  the  earliest  cave  men  we  find  numerous  hearths, 
ashes  and  cinders,  bones  wholly  or  partly  calcined,  and 
fragments  of  hand-made  pottery  blackened  by  smoke.  Pre- 
historic man  of  that  period  cooked  his  food,  therefore, — 
perhai:)S  not  after  our  fashion,  but  possibly  as  among  cer- 
tain present  savage  tribes,  by  the  application  of  heated 
stones,  or  in  water  heated  by  such  means.  His  food  was 
not  carefully  chosen,  as  it  seems  to  our  taste.  Mammoths, 
the  rhinoceros,  beavers,  dogs  and  foxes  were  on  the  bills  of 
fare.*  Marrow  was  a  great  dainty,  as  is  evident  from  the 
quantity  of  the  long  bones  of  animals  which  have  clearly 
been  broken  for  the  purpose  of  its  extraction.  Fire  was 
probably  obtained  by  friction  in  various  ways,  as  among 
existing  low  races.  Palaeolithic  man  possessed  no  cereals, 
nor  had  he  domestic  animals  or  agriculture.  For  his  sus- 
tenance he  contended  with  the  wild  and  ferocious  animals 
of  his  time,  as  is  evident  from  many  skulls  of  beasts  frac- 
tured by  flint  weapons.  His  clothing  necessarily  was  furs 
and  skins,  to  prepare  which  he  evidently  used  the  flint 
scrapers  which  are  so  abundant.  Pins  of  clay  or  bone  were 
used  to  fasten  the  clothing,  though  in  the  so-called  reindeer- 
age  rude  sewing  was  effected  by  bone  needles.  Of  social 
customs  we  have  no  trace,  although,  if  we  j  udge  by  analogy 
of  existing  savage  tribes,  both  polygamy  and  polyandry 
were  practised.  Of  the  earliest  men  we  discover  no  remains 
of  dwellings.  They  contended  with  the  cave  bear  and  cave 
hyaena  for  shelter  in  the  natural  cave  formations.  It  was  a 
struggle  for  existence  in  the  utmost  acceptation  of  the 
phrase,  and  that  from  such  an  unpromising  environment  the 
race  should  have  risen  to  its  present  high  standard  of  social 
and  intellectual  advantage  is  not  one  of  the  least  of  the  won- 
ders that  the  philosophy  of  Evolution  offers  for  our  reflection. 

*The  recent  discovery  by  M.  Armand  Vire,  of  palaeolithic  flint-hooks,  which 
had  evidently  been  usetl  as  flsh-hooks,  and  the  prevalence  of  palaeolithic  spear- 
heads in  the"  river-drift,  indicate  that  tish  was  also  a  common  food  of  palae- 
olithic man. 


68  Primitive  Man. 

We  must  further  briefly  note  that  the  numerous  carvings 
and  designs  of  species  of  animals  now  extinct,  which  have 
been  discovered  on  many  of  their  fossil  bones, —  fre- 
quently exhibiting  a  very  considerable  ability  in  outline 
delineation,  and  superior  to  anything  produced  by  the  lowest 
or  even  somewhat  advanced  races  of  to-day, —  are  an 
important  contribution  to  the  proofs  of  the  antiquity  of 
man,  and  equivalent  in  fact  to  any  others  which  have  been 
adduced. 

We  may  here  properly  sum  up  the  several  evidences : 

First  —  The  discovery  in  the  diluvial  or  drift  strata,  Avhose 
age  in  geological  history  is  relatively  well  known,  of  rude 
artificial  flint  implements. 

Second — The  discovery  in  bone  caves  of  human  remains  and 
flint  instruments  demonstrated  to  be  contemporaneous 
with  the  remains  of  species  of  animals  undoubtedly  extinct, 
and  of  species  also  which  have  long  disappeared  from  the 
region  where  these  remains  are  found. 

Third  —  Carvings  of  extinct  species  of  animals  upon  the 
bones  of  such  animals. 

Fourth — The  demonstration  of  the  descent  of  man  from 
some  species  of  primate, —  necessitating  an  enormous 
period  of  time,  anterior  even  to  the  Tertiary,  for  his 
progress  to  his  earliest  known  or  supposed  appearance 
distinctively  as  Man. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  very  earliest  races  were 
wholly  devoid  of  any  sentiment  of  what  we  call  religion, 
or  habits  of  worship.  The  lowest  tribes  of  which  we  have 
any  account  in  historical  records  appear  to  have  possessed 
some  instinctive  recognition  of  superior  powers,  and  we 
discover  none  in  which  some  rite  of  propitiation  and  sacri- 
fice, or  funeral  cerenionial  at  least,  has  not  prevailed.  If 
primitive  man  exliibited  any  religious,  or,  at  any  rate, 
theistic  observances,  they  must  have  appeared,  of  course, 
in  forms  of  the  lowest  and  most  degrading  fetishism, 
inspired  only  by  fear.  But  the  question  must  remain 
largely  speculative. 

At  some  period  subsequent  to  the  disappearance  of  the 
cave  men,  and  extending  in  some  cases  into  the  neolithic 
age  (for  the  chronology  is  very  much  disputed),  occur  the 
phenomena  of  the  peat  deposits,  the  shell  mounds,  or 
kitchen  middens  as  they  are  termed,  and  tlie  constructions 


Primitive  Man.  59 

of  the  dolmen  and  crannoge  builders  of  Europe  and  Asia, 
and  of  the  mound  builders  of  America.  Some  species  of 
dolmens  may  be  older,  others  more  recent,  than  the  begin- 
ning of  the  new  stone  age.  It  is  certain  that  the  upper 
sections  of  the  peat  beds  have  yielded  bronze  implements, 
notably  a  bronze  shield  of  skilled  workmanship,  which 
brings  this  deposit  certainly  below  the  neolithic  era.  These 
peat  beds,  or  peat  mosses,  as  they  are  called,  are  most 
abundant,  and  have  been  studied  to  the  best  advantage  in 
Denmark.  They  consist  of  successive  layers  of  carbonized 
material,  formed  from  trees  known  to  be  of  different 
periods,  the  lowest  composed  of  aquatic  plants  and  pines, 
including  the  Scotch  fir,  which  long  since  disappeared  from 
the  country.  This  gives  place  to  various  species  of  oak, 
all  but  one  of  which  has  disappeared  —  and  these,  in  their 
turn,  to  the  beech,  which  now  grows  luxuriantly  in  the 
country.  The  depth  is  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet.  Palaeo- 
lithic objects  are  found  in  the  lowest  deposit,  which  must, 
according  to  Professor  Steenstrup,  have  been  formed  from 
ten  to  twelve  thousand  years  since.  Peat  mosses  and  bogs, 
with  corresponding  remains,  and  imbedding  the  remains  of 
extinct  species  of  animals  of  the  same  age,  are  found  in 
Ireland,  Prance  and  Switzerland  —  in  the  latter  containing 
the  well-known  leaf-marked  coal,  which,  being  covered  by 
a  glacial  deposit,  is  of  great  antiquity,  contemporaneous,  in 
the  opinion  of  some,  with  the  earliest  appearance  of  man 
in  pre-glacial  times.  While  it  is  true  that,  owing  to  the 
spongy,  yielding  nature  of  the  material  of  the  peat  beds, 
we  are  not  so  well  assured  as  to  the  antiquity  of  remains 
therein  imbedded  as  in  the  case  of  the  well-marked  geolog- 
ical stratum  of  the  diluvium,  yet  the  researches  thus  far 
undertaken  have  been  so  carefully  and  impartially  con- 
ducted as  to  make  their  results  as  worthy  of  confidence  as 
similar  explorations  of  the  diluvium ;  and,  as  Professor 
Virchow  has  remarked,  "  If  doubt  was  still  entertained  as 
to  the  coincidence  of  the  age  of  the  pines  (now,  as  we  have 
said,  extinct)  and  the  age  of  stone,  the  discovery  of  a  flint 
instrument  in  the  peat  at  the  foot  of  such  a  pine  would  be 
conclusive." 

Coming  next  to  the  shell  mounds  or  kitchen  middens, 
these  also  abound  most  plentifully  along  the  coast  of  Scan- 
dinavia, Denmark  and  Xorth  Germany.  They  consist  of 
remains  of  prehistoric  cookery,  oyster-shells,  mussels,  lim- 


60  Primitive  Man. 

pets  and  periwinkles,  together  with  bones  of  mammals  of 
species  all  at  present  extinct.  The  heaps  themselves  are 
from  one  to  three  yards  in  height  by  100  to  350  yards  long 
and  50  to  70  wide.  In  these,  located  but  a  short  distance 
from  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  and  raised  about  three  yards 
above  the  sea  level,  cinders,  rude  pottery  and  flint  implements 
are  found  intermixed;  but  we  discover  no  cereals,  nor 
instruments  of  metal,  though  the  flints  are  of  better  work- 
manship than  those  of  the  most  remote  palaeolithic  age. 
Kemains  of  the  blackcock  and  the  penguin,  birds  long  since 
non-existent  in  these  localities,  are  also  found,  but  no 
human  remains.  The  age  of  the  heaps  is  in  dispute  —  some 
placing  it  at  7000  years,  others  bringing  them  down  to  the 
age  of  the  dolmens.  It  does  not  seem  possible  to  reconcile 
scientific  opinion  on  the  subject. 

In  the  Winter  of  1853-54  the  waters  of  Lake  Zurich 
fell  to  the  lowest  level  till  then  recorded.  Prof.  Keller 
then  first  had  his  attention  drawn  to  certain  piles  driven 
into  the  bed  of  the  lake.  The  closer  examination  of  these 
Avas  the  inception  of  a  scientific  interest  among  archaeolo- 
gists, in  the  investigation  of  these  structures,  which  proved 
to  be  specially  fruitful  of  results  concerning  prehistoric 
man.  Kemains  of  wild  and  domestic  animals,  various 
forms  of  human  skulls,  implements  of  every  description, 
in  bone,  flint,  bronze  and  iron,  pottery  of  more  or  less 
artistic  workmanship,  objects  of  art  and  ornament,  woven 
stuff's,  grindmg-stones,  mill-stones,  grains,  breads,  fruit, 
ashes,  coal  —  all  these  are  found.  The  piles  are  from  fif- 
teen to  thirty  feet  in  length,  their  diameter  three  to  nine 
inches,  and  they  project  above  the  surface  of  the  water 
from  four  to  six  feet.  They  are  sometimes  placed  in  lines 
parallel  with  the  shore,  sometimes  at  right  angles  to  it,  and 
are  either  firmly  imbedded  in  the  mud,  or  su])ported  by 
heaps  of  stone  at  their  base.  They  were  united  by  trans- 
verse beams,  lield  in  position  by  wooden  pins.  On  these 
Ijeams  was  constructed  a  platform,  of  thick  planks,  or  of 
split  trunks  of  trees  roughly  squared;  and  upon  the  plat- 
forms were  erected  oval,  circular,  or  rectangular  huts,  ten, 
fifteen,  or  more  feet  in  diameter,  the  walls  being  formed  of 
perpendicular  posts  fastened  together  by  wattled  branches, 
lined  with  a  cement  of  clay.  The  huts  were  covered  by  a 
roof  of  bark,  thatch,  cane,  reed,  fern  or  moss  ;  a  trap-door 
in  tlie  platform  communicated  with  the  lake  below.     Each 


Primitive  Man.  61 

hut  was  surrounded  by  a  ring  of  piles,  and  was  united  to 
the  shore  by  a  drawbridge.  Such  in  brief  was  the  lake  dwel- 
ling. Some  two  hundred  villages  of  such  dwellings  have 
been  explored,  and  it  appears  that  each  village  averaged 
about  three  hundred  huts.  The  objects  to  be  secured  by 
this  peculiar  construction  have  not  been  satisfactorily  deter- 
mined, except  that  the  tendency  of  scientific  opinion  is  to 
consider  defence  against  attack  a  principal  motive. 

The  oldest  of  these  structures  do  not  antedate  the  neo- 
lithic age,  and  it  seems  that  they  existed  until  a  short  time 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Romans, —  at  least,  that  is,  into  the 
iron  age, —  in  the  western  part  of  Switzerland.  In  the  east 
they  disappear  with  the  age  of  stone.  Authorities  differ 
as  to  the  period  of  their  earliest  construction ;  some  will 
have  5000  to  7000  years,  others  date  them  back  to  the 
earliest  stage  of  the  race.  That  they  were  considerably 
subsequent  in  time  to  the  cave  dwellers  is,  however,  gener- 
ally conceded.  What  particular  race  inhabited  and  built 
them  is  also  in  dispute.  Experts  like  Professors  Keller  and 
Virchow  assign  them  to  tribes  of  aborigines  of  Keltic 
origin.  Another  argument. points  to  an  Asiatic  origin,  and 
to  a  sudden  irruption  of  a  new  people,  like  similar  irrup- 
tions of  authentic  history.  The  fact  that,  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  neolithic  age,  several  of  the  domestic  animals 
(all  of  which  were  domesticated  in  Asia)  appear  in  Europe 
at  the  same  period ;  that  also  some  four  species  of  wheat, 
two  of  barley,  with  millet,  peas,  poppies,  apples,  pears, 
plums  and  flax,  all  of  which  are  found  in  the  lake  dwellings 
and  elsewhere,  are  each  and  all  Asiatic  importations,  points 
to  the  sudden  appearance  in  the  liistory  of  European  eth- 
nology of  a  race  essentially  in  advance  of  the  cave  dwellers 
in  all  matters  pertaining  to  intelligence  and  civilization, 
and  the  life  of  which  has  never  become  extinct,  but  has 
subsisted  and  been  infused  into  the  life  of  present  races. 

This  race,  which  diffused  itself  throughout  Europe,  is 
alleged  to  have  been  of  a  dark,  olive  complexion,  with 
black  hair  and  eyes,  represented  in  modern  Europe  by  the 
Basque  people,  who  have  long  been  recognized  as  in  some 
respects  the  most  peculiar  people  in  Europe  dwelling  in 
the  secluded  territory  lying  between  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and 
the  Pyrenees,  and  called  by  the  Kelts,  who  were  the  van- 
guard of  the  great  subsequent  Aryan  immigration,  Iberians, 
or  western  people.    They  are  supposed  likewise  to  have  been 


62  Primitive  Man. 

represented  by  the  Etruscans  of  the  early  Roman  period,  with 
an  admixture  of  blood  from  the  Arabs,  the  Moors  of  Spain 
and  the  Berber  tribes  of  Northern  Africa. 

Whencesoever  their  origin,  the  earliest  lake  dwellers 
lived  indisputably  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  new  stone 
age.  Their  implements  are  highly  polished,  and  frequently 
ingeniously  decorated  and  ornamented.  Many  tools  and 
utensils  approaching  the  variety  in  modern  use  are  not 
infrequently  found ;  —  flint  saws  with  wooden  handles  ; 
harpoons  and  hooks  ;  arrows ;  straight  and  curved  needles, 

—  some  of  the  latter  sharpened  at  both  ends,  with  the  eye  in 
the  centre ;  and  all  manufactured  of  bone  and  horn.  Bone 
hairpins  ;  beads  of  amber ;  horn  drinking-cups  ;  pottery  ; 
the  shuttle,  spindle,  and  loom  ;  various  woven  stuffs  ;  cords 
of  tree-libre  ;  thread  of  flax ;  willow  baskets  ;  cereals,  seeds, 
and  various  fruit  in  considerable  abundance  ;  wooden  bowls 
and  platters ;  combs,  maces,  battle-axes,  spoons,  bone  forks  ; 

—  all  indicating  that  with  the  lake  dwellers  modern  civili- 
zation had  at  last  dawned  upon  Europe.  They  had,  more- 
over, domesticated  nearly  all  of  our  present  valuable 
domestic  animals,  including  the  horse.  Their  carpentering 
was  ingenious.  Possibly  they  had  commerce  by  barter 
with  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Baltic,  and  they  con- 
structed boats  of  great  size  and  strength.  They  clothed 
themselves  not  only  in  skins,  but  with  hempen  and  sewn 
stuffs.  Their  dead  were  buried  in  excavations,  inclosed  in 
large  stone  slabs,  suggesting  an  approach  to  the  dolmens, 
or  niegalithic  stones. 

Lake  dwellings  were  not  peculiar  to  the  ancient  Hel- 
vetians. We  read  of  them  in  Herodotus  as  existing  among 
the  ancient  Paonians.  In  modern  times  we  tind  them 
among  the  Cossacks,  among  the  Papuans  of  New  Guinea, 
in  Borneo,  the  Celebes,  and  in  Cochin  China.  Similar  also 
Avere  the  constructions  of  the  Aztecs  of  North  America, 
and  the  so-called  floating-islands  of  the  Assyrians  and 
ancient  Chinese. 

The  dolmens,  or  megalithic  stones,  are  rudely  constructed, 
of  colossal  size,  consisting,  in  the  case  of  dolmens  proper, 
of  huge  stones  i)laced  horizontally  upon  other  immense 
upright  blocks,  the  whole  either  covered  with  earth,  or  left 
exposed.  Of  the  latter  kind,  Stonehenge  is  a  Avell  known 
instance.  Those  covered  with  earth  take  the  name  also  of 
"barrows,"  and  "passage  graves."    These  exjwsed  dolmens. 


Primitive  Man.  63 

or  "  stone  tables  "  as  the  word  implies,  abound  especially  in 
the  plains  of  Brittany,  in  central  France,  and  in  the  region 
of  the  Pyrenees.  Isolated  upright  stones,  mostly  of  enor- 
mous size,  and  known  as  menhirs, —  occurring  sometimes 
singly,  at  other  times  in  rows, —  are  equally  abundant, 
notably  those  at  Carnac  in  France,  which  extended  a  dis- 
tance of  a  mile,  and  number,  in  all,  eleven  thousand,  dis- 
posed in  eleven  rows.  A  single  specimen  measures  twenty 
yards  in  length,  by  two  in  average  width,  and  another 
rises  to  the  extraordinary  height  of  thirty  feet  above  the 
ground,  being  imbedded  fifteen  below  it.  Covered  dolmens 
were,  quite  exclusively,  appropriated  to  purposes  of  burial ; 
—  exposed  dolmens  and  menhirs  commonly  to  religious 
observances  and  sacrifices. 

How  these  huge  masses  of  stone  were  got  together  and 
raised  is  as  much  of  a  mystery  as  the  piling  of  the  Pyra- 
mids. Objects  of  both  stone  and  metal  have  been  discovered 
in  the  burial  mounds,  indicating  that  they  are  to  be  attrib- 
uted to  a  period  bordering  on  the  close  of  the  stone  and 
opening  of  the  bronze  periods. 

Who  were  the  dolmen  builders  is  another  debated  point 
in  prehistoric  archaeology.  By  some  they  are  supposed  to  have 
been  the  Kelts  ;  by  others,  a  race  prior  to  the  latter,  whom 
they  supplanted.  That  these  structures  are  not  Druidic,  and 
that  the  Druids  belong  to  a  period  far  subsequent,  is  generally 
conceded,  but  scientists  are  at  variance  not  only  upon  the 
question  as  to  who  built  them,  but  also  on  the  question 
whether  they  are  the  constructions  of  any  special  race,  or 
whether  ditferent  races  may  not  have  independently  reached, 
or  passed  through  a  dolmen  and  tumulus  building  epoch. 

That  America,  no  less  than  Europe,  was  the  the  habitat 
of  races  as  primeval  as  the  palaeolithic  man  of  Europe,  has 
been  fully  established.  At  New  Orleans  a  complete  skele- 
ton has  been  discovered,  buried  beneath  four  successive  for- 
ests, and  an  age  of  57,000  years  has  been  assigned  to  the 
remains.  Agassiz  came  upon  human  remains  in  the  con- 
glomerate of  a  Florida  reef,  which  he  assertec\  to  have  been 
deposited  exceeding  10,000  years  ago.  The  caves  of  Brazil 
have  yielded,  as  in  Europe,  numerous  bones  of  man  im- 
bedded with  those  of  fossil  animals.  The  implements  dis- 
covered are  the  same,  subserving  similar  purposes,  although, 
as  has  been  stated,  more  frequently  chipped  from  obsidian, 
jade  or  porphyry.     Likewise  we  find  in  Central  America, 


64  Primitive  Man. 

Peru,  and  Bolivia,  the  huge  chulpas,  or  burial  crypts,  of 
perpendicular  stones,  answering  to  the  similar  dolmens  and 
tumulus  graves  of  Europe,  and  proving  a  universal  tendency 
of  primitive  peoples  to  develop  correspondent  ideas  as  to 
architectural  work,  at  widely  different  localities. 

It  is  to  the  so-called  "  Mounds  of  the  American  Basin  " 
that  notice  and  research  have  of  late  years  been  more  par- 
ticularly directed,  and  it  is  in  these  localities,  embracing 
the  extensive  areas  in  the  region  of  the  junction  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  in  the  valley  of  the  Scioto,  and  in 
Wisconsin,  that  Messrs.  Squier  and  Davis,  and  others,  have 
made  an  exhaustive  study  of  these  prehistoric  phenomena. 
Briefly  stated,  these  mounds,  mostly  designed  and  con- 
structed for  burial  purposes,  though  in  certain  instances  for 
purposes  of  religious  observance,  are  in  form  most  generally 
circular.  At  other  times  they  are  laid  out,  over  extensive 
areas,  in  the  form,  or  after  the  outline,  of  various  animals, 
or  even  of  such  objects  as  pipes,  etc.  Advantage  has  been 
taken  of  the  natural  conformation  of  the  ground  to  represent 
such  figures,  and  tlie  results,  so  far  as  mere  size  is  con- 
cerned, are  astonishing, —  one  of  them  containing  not  less 
than  550,000  cubic  feet,  while  four  would  exceed  the  largest 
of  the  Pyramids,  and  another  one  is  fulh'  700  feet  in  lengtli 
by  500  in  width  and  90  in  height,  and  is  estimated  to  con- 
tain twenty  million  cubic  feet  of  contents. 

There  is  considerable  uniformity  as  to  the  relics  discov- 
ered. Together  with  polished  stone  implements,  we  find 
work  in  copper,  and  also  chipped  flints,  making  it  difficult 
to  attribute  the  mounds  to  specific  periods.  The  question 
is  still  furtlier  complicated  by  tlie  fact  that  they  have  been 
occupied  by  ditt'erent  tribes,  if  not  by  various  races,  at  suc- 
cessive periods, —  remains  having  frequently  been  disturbed, 
though  not  generally  molested,  for  the  convenience  of  sub- 
sequent occu])aiits. 

With  reference  to  the  mounds,  as  well  as  to  the  dolmens 
and  barrows  of  Euroj)e,  the  conclusion  of  archaeologists  is 
that  they  were  intended,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Pyramids, 
for  places  of  seimlture  for  chiefs  of  tribes,  perlia])S  also 
for  others  of  distinction.  So  much  labor  would  not  be 
expended  for  the  burial  of  the  common  peoi)le.  The  rela- 
tive scarcity  of  human  remains  indicates  the  purpose  above 
mentioned,  and  the  presence  of  altars,  and  other  tokens 
and   emblems    of    ritual  and   sacrifice,  suggestive  of    the 


Primitive  Man.  65 

universally  prevailing  worship  of  the  dead,  or  worship  of 
deities  at  the  tombs  of  the  deceased,  points  to  the  same 
conclusion. 

The  period,  or  stage  of  culture,  denoted  by  the  use  of 
bronze  implements,  brings  us  well  within  historic  times. 
The  date  of  the  disuse  of  bronze,  and  the  adoption  of  iron 
as  the  most  serviceable  metal  for  general  use  in  the  con- 
struction of  tools  and  weapons,  is  as  difficult  of  approxi- 
mation as  the  periods  of  the  rise  and  cessation  of  the  early 
ages  of  stone, —  for  one  reason,  among  many,  that  the  use 
of  bronze  in  the  manufacture  of  ornamental  work  contin- 
ued far  down  into  the  iron  epoch.  Sir  John  Lubbock 
places  the  close  of  the  Bronze  age  at  the  period  of  the 
Trojan  war ;  and  the  mention  of  brass  (as  the  word  bronze 
is  improperly  translated)  in  Deuteromony,  so  much  more 
frequently  than  iron,  denotes  that  the  same  age  among  the 
early  Hebrews  had  not  then  closed. 

The  object  of  this  Essay  being,  particularly,  an  inquiry 
into  the  life  and  relics  of  more  primitive  races,  our  space 
has  been  mostly  given  to  the  discoveries  and  conclusions 
relating  to  the  earlier  old  and  new  stone  periods.  Within 
the  limits  of  a  single  paper,  we  can  do  little  more  than 
suggest,  not  discuss  at  length,  the  most  important  topics 
and  results  of  prehistoric  archaeology.  The  literature  of 
the  subject  is  voluminous  and  increasing,  bvit  it  is  not 
appropriate,  in  a  popular  series,  that  we  should  enter  into 
scientific  details,  nor  is  such  treatment  in  fact  necessary  or 
important.  The  significance  of  the  whole  discussion  for  us, 
in  this  course  upon  Sociological  Evolution,  hinges  upon  the 
question  of  man's  existence  in  the  palaeolithic  age.  If  we 
establish,  as  a  truth,  the  fact  of  man's  existence  upon  the 
planet  at  a  period  remote  from  us  by  80,000  years,  or  even 
half  that  time;  —  if  we  find  him,  at  that  distant  age,  so 
low  in  respect  to  habits,  manners,  and  intelligence,  that  for 
uncounted  centuries  lie  had  to  take  almost  even  chances  of 
survival  with  the  cave-bear  and  the  mammoth, —  frozen  by 
glaciers  or  scorched  with  torrid  heat;  toilsomely  shaping 
his  rough-hewn  flints  wherewith  barely  to  hold  his  own  in 
the  struggle  for  existence;  —  if  these  things  be  a  proven 
fact,  and  if  from  this  state  have  emerged  the  complex  and 
elaborate  civilizations,  arts,  commerce,  industries,  and  im- 
mensely specialized  activities  of  the  modern  centuries,  the 
doctrine  of  the  continuous  evolution  of  man  and  of  society 


66  Primitive  Man. 

receives  an  affirmation  second  only  to  that  which  it  received 
when  the  genius  of  Darwin  brought  to  its  support  the 
revolutionary  doctrine  of  natural  selection,  with  all  its 
manifold  implications.  The  descent  of  man  from  some  one 
of  the  primates  of  the  animal  kingdom  was  indeed  dis- 
tinctly asserted  by  Darwin ;  but  the  proofs  as  to  the 
slow,  gradual  melioration  of  the  race,  in  respect  to  its  pro- 
gress from  brutehood  to  manhood,  was  yet  to  be  distinctly 
affirmed  and  demonstrated  by  the  patient  labors  of  prehis- 
toric science.  These  demonstrations  (for  such  they  now 
are)  have  put  the  last  nail  in  the  coffin  of  special  creation- 
ist theories,  and  the  entire  cosmos  of  man  and  nature  is 
fully  explicated  as  the  sublime  immanent  working  of  One 
Power  energizing  in  and  through  both  Man  and  Nature. 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  MARRIAGE 
RELATION. 


BY 

C.   ST  AXIL  AND   WAKE 

Author  of  "The  Development  of  Marriaoe  and  Kinship,"  "The 
Evolution  of  Morality,"  etc.,  etc. 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology";    "Wake's  "The  Develop- 
ment of  Marriage  and  Kinship"  ;  McLennan's  "iStudies  in  Ancient 
History"  (on  Primitive  Marriage);  Tylor's  "  Primitive  Culture" 
Keary's  "Dawn  of  History"  ;  Maine's  "Early  Law  and  Customs" 
Starcke's  "  The  Primitive  Family  in  its  Origin  and  Development" 
Snyder's   "The   Geography   of   Marriage";    Morgan's    "Ancient 
Society";  Lubbock's  "Origin  of  Civilization";  Coulange's  "An- 
cient City." 

(68) 


THE  GRO^A^TH  OF  THE  MARRIAGE 
RELATION.* 


So  FAR  as  our  experience  goes,  the  highest  product  of 
evolution  is  the  complicated  social  organism  we  know  as  a 
nation  or  State,  and  marriage  is  the  essential  condition  of 
its  existence.  Not  necessarily,  however,  such  a  form  or 
forms  of  the  marriage  relation  as  distinguish  existing  civil- 
ized societies.  History,  past  as  well  as  contemporaneous, 
informs  us  that  the  relation  between  the  sexes  implied  in 
the  term  "  marriage  "  may  take  many  phases.  The  prin- 
ciples of  Evolution  require,  however,  that  these  various 
forms  of  marriage  shall  not  have  originated  spontaneously. 
They  are  growths  of  the  great  world-tree,  and,  as  twigs  of 
one  of  its  highest  branches,  are  organically  connected  with 
each  other.  The  branch  itself  was  once  only  a  twig  on  the 
parent  stem,  and  had  its  origin  in  a  simple  bud,  the  growth 
of  which  if  traced  throughout  will  show  the  development 
of  the  marriage  relation  under  all  its  forms,  and  also  of 
society  itself. 

These  considerations  show  that  we  must  not  look  to  the 
most  civilized  races  of  mankind  for  the  earliest  phase  of 
marriage.  Among  them  we  may  expect  to  find  this  rela- 
tion assume  a  form  answering  to  the  moral  and  intellectual 
status  they  have  reached  in  the  course  of  their  general 
progress.  Thus,  among  the  Aryan  peoples,  or  at  least  those 
who  have  embraced  Christianity,  monogamy,  or  the  perma- 
nent marriage  of  one  man  to  one  woman,  subject  only  to 
the  law  of  divorce,  is  universally  recognized  as  the  only 
form  which  the  marriage  relation  should  be  allowed  to  take. 
The  existence  of  systematic  monogamy  is  treated  as  evi- 
dence that  any  people  among  whom  it  is  prevalent  are  far 
advanced  in  general  culture.  When,  therefore,  we  read 
that  "a  man  shall  leave  his  father  and  mothei*,  and  shall 
cleave  unto  his  wife,  and  they  shall  be  one  flesh,"  Ave  know 
that  this  rule  cannot  have  been  framed  during  the  earliest 
age  of  man's  existence ;  and  we  infer  that  it  was  the  mar- 

*  CopviiiGHT,  1890,  by  James  H.  West. 


70  The   Growth  of  the  Man'lage  Relation. 

riage  law  of  a  race  more  highly  cultured  than  the  Israelites, 
who  were  polygamists  down  to  a  late  period  of  their 
history.  The  early  Hebrews  had,  however,  made  such 
advances  in  civilization  that  we  cannot  look  to  them  for  the 
earliest  form  in  wliich  the  marriage  relation  expressed 
itself.  We  must  go  beyond  tliem  to  the  lowest  of  all  exist- 
ing races,  from  whom  we  sliall  learn  mcn'e  of  the  manners 
of  primitive  man  than  by  searching  the  records  of  the 
l)ast. 

Marriage  is,  indeed,  not  limited  to  the  human  race.  The 
idea  of  sex  is  universal  throughout  the  organic  world,  and 
in  the  animal  kingdom  similar  phases  of  the  marriage 
relation  are  to  be  met  with  as  with  man  himself.  Thus,  of 
the  man-like  apes,  the  gorilla  and  the  chimpanzee  are 
polygynous,  while  the  orang  and  the  soko  are  monundrous. 
The  orang  associates  with  his  female  companion  only  i)art 
of  the  year,  but  some  kinds  of  monkeys,  which  are  said  to 
be  strictly  monogamous,  live  with  their  mates  all  the  year 
round.  This  consorting  is  evidently  based  on  the  sexual 
instinct,  which  is  the  true  source  of  all  inarriage. 

We  find  that  the  chief  actions  of  the  animal  life  are 
directed  towards  one  or  other  of  two  great  ends,  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  individual  or  the  perpetuation  of  the  race. 
The  former  is  the  organic  instinct,  or  instinct  of  self-pres- 
ervation, and  the  latter  the  sexual  instinct,  or  instinct  of 
race-perpetuation.  The  reference  to  race  shows  what  is  the 
true  object  of  the  association  between  the  sexes  in  ''mar- 
riage," which  necessarily  supposes  fitness  fur  the  relation, 
and  a  certain  degree  of  permanence.  In  the  absence  of 
permanence,  the  institution  could  not  take  root  so  as  to 
undergo  the  growtli  which  the  theor}'  of  evolution  requires. 
Temporary  marriages  have  not  been  unknown,  even  to 
peo})l('S  claiming  a  considerable  degree  of  culture,  but  i\\vy 
are  not  so  common  as  some  writers  suppose,  and  they  must 
be  regarded  as  ])urely  exce])tional. 

The  nuirriage  relation  is  thus  based  on  the  sexual  instinct, 
its  aim  is  the  })erpetuation  of  the  race  tlirough  the  family, 
and  it  requires  a  certain  permanence  in  the  association 
formed  between  the  individuals  concerned.  These  features 
exclude  from  consideration  the  exam])les,  real  or  sup])osed, 
of  promiscuity,  wliich  are  said  to  jirove  that  primitive  man 
once  existed  in  snch  a  social  condition,  but  which  do  not 
possess  the  signiticance  attached  to  them  by  Mr.  Herbert 


The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  71 

Spencer  and  other  writers.  Instead  of  promiscuity,  we  find 
that  the  most  uncivilized  peoples  liave  certain  rules  which 
restrict  the  operation  of  the  sexual  instinct,  and  reduce  its 
importance  as  a  factor  in  the  formation  of  the  marriage 
relation.  Those  restrictions  are  natural  or  human,  accord- 
ing to  their  origin,  and  the  former  may  fitly  be  termed  a 
natural  restraint  on  promiscuity. 

It  has  been  found,  by  a  study  of  the  marriage  regulations 
in  force  among  various  peoples,  that  individuals  regarded 
as  closely  related  by  blood  are  not  permitted  to  intermarry. 
This  rule  is  so  widespread  that  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
asserting  it  to  be  general.  It  was  in  operation  among  the 
ancients,  and  it  is  recognized  by  all  peoples  of  the  present 
day,  however  low  they  may  be  in  the  scale  of  civilization. 
There  are  certain  exceptions,  which,  however,  are  so  few 
that  they  show  how  general  must  be  the  rule.  This  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  Australian  aborigines 
have  a  most  elaborate  system  of  kinship,  based  on  the 
division  of  the  tribes  into  classes  and  totems,  with  which 
is  associated  a  series  of  marriage  regulations  whose  object 
is  to  prevent  the  intermarriage  of  persons  who  are  of  the 
same  blood.  All  the  Australian  tribes  have  the  utmost 
abhorrence  of  consanguineous  marriages,  and  the  Dieyeri, 
one  of  the  most  uncultured  of  them,  profess  to  explain  the 
origin  of  the  subdivision  of  the  tribe  into  families  or  totem 
groups,  as  intended  to  prevent  such  marriages.  Moreover,  it 
has  been  shown  by  the  Hon.  L.  H.  Morgan  that  a  system  of  kin- 
ship similar  to  that  of  the  Australians,  though,  with  certain 
variations,  is  in  vogue  among  nearly  all  the  non- Aryan  peo- 
ples of  the  globe.  Wherever  kinship  is  traced  preferably 
tlirough  either  the  male  line  or  the  female  line,  the  rule 
that  persons  related  through  the  father  or  through  the 
mother,  as  the  case  may  be,  cannot  intermarry,  is  strictly 
enforced.  It  is  usually  extended  so  as  to  exclude  from 
tlie  marriage  relation  persons  who  are  nearly  connected 
through  the  other  parent,  although  not  regardeed  as  of  kin. 
This  extension  is  shown  where,  as  among  nearly  all  the 
Australian  tribes,  marriage  with  a  half-sister  is  prohibited, 
although  she  belongs  to  her  half-brother's  intermarrying 
group. 

The  rule  of  non-intermarriage  of  persons  related  by 
blood,  which  probably  arose  in  the  very  infancy  of  the  race, 
throu.ijch   a   natural  feeling    against   the    intermarriagre   of 


72  The  Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation. 

brothers  and  sisters,  is  expressed  by  the  term  exogamy, 
which,  as  used  by  its  inventor,  Dr.  J.  F.  McLennan,  meant 
"prohibited  marriage  within  the  tribe  or  group,"  as  opposed 
to  endogamij,  or  "marriage  within  the  tribe  or  group."  It 
was  pointed  out  by  ]Mr.  Morgan  that  exogamy  is  merely 
the  rule  that  iatennurriage  in  the  gens  is  i)rohihited,  the 
gens  consisting  of  "  a  body  of  consanguinei  descended  from 
the  same  common  ancestor,  distinguislied  by  a  gentile  name, 
and  bound  together  by  affinities  of  blood."  By  endogamy, 
then,  we  must  understand  marriage  within  the  gens  or 
group  of  kin,  and,  apart  from  certain  practices  said  to  be 
known  on  special  occasions  to  the  Australian  aborigines 
and  some  other  uncivilized  i)eoples,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  the  existence  of  real  endogamy  has  ever  been 
established.  There  may  be  tribes  consisting  of  several 
gentes,  clans,  or  groups  of  kin,  who  do  not  allow  marriage 
outside  of  the  tribe,  but  they  are  not  necessarily  endoga- 
mous  ;  as  the  members  of  one  gens,  clan,  or  group  may  inter- 
marry with  those  of  another  such  group  belonging  to  the 
same  tribe,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  principles  of 
exogamy. 

The  Hindoo  castes  were  said  by  Dr.  McLennan  to  be 
endogamous,  but  they  are  divided  into  gotrams  or  families, 
and  marriage  is  prohibited  between  persons  of  the  same 
gotram,  on  the  ground  that  the  possession  by  its  members 
of  a  common  name  shows  that  they  belong  to  the  same 
stock.  Tliis  is  really  an  example  of  simple  exogamy  with- 
in what  may  be  called  an  endogamous  group.  As  applied 
by  Dr.  jVIcLennan  the  terms  are  misleading,  and  INIr.  Her- 
bert Spencer,  applying  them  in  the  same  way,  erroneously 
supposes  that  exogamy  has  given  place  to  endogamy  as  the 
relations  of  groups  of  men  have  become  more  2)eacefid. 

The  only  Avcll  authenticated  exceptions  to  tlie  rule  against 
the  intermarriage  of  recognized  consanguinei,  are  certain 
cases  which  may  be  explained  as  having  for  their  object 
the  preserving  of  a  superior  strain  of  blood,  and  wliich  there- 
fore proves  the  importance  attached  to  blood  relationship. 

The  King  of  Hawaii  was  obliged  to  marry  the  woman 
next  in  rank  to  himself,  whatever  their  relationship,  as 
rank  descended  through  females  and  competition  to  the 
throne  would  thus  be  prevented.  The  Incas,  who  claimed 
descent  from  tlie  Sun  and  regarded  purity  of  the  royal 
blood  as  absolutely  necessary,  said  that  the  kingdom  should 


The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  73 

be  inherited  through  both  parents.  Hence  the  eldest  son 
of  the  monarch  married  his  nearest  kinswoman,  whatever 
their  relationship  to  each  other.  Unions  of  a  similar 
character  were  made  by  the  ancient  Persians,  but  they 
were  of  comparatively  late  introduction,  and  owed  their 
origin  to  Cambyses,  the  son  of  Cyrus,  or  to  the  priests  in 
his  interest.  The  actual  exceptions  to  the  rule  against  the 
intermarriage  of  consanguinei  are  thus  seen  to  have  rela- 
tion to  purity  of  blood,  and,  as  having  a  special  object,  they 
tend  to  confirm  the  rule  instead  of  disproving  it.  The 
opinion  that  the  parental  relationship  is  not  recognized  or 
is  disregarded  among  the  lower  races  has  been  shown  to 
be  baseless.  Relationship  through  both  parents  is  fully 
recognized  with  few  exceptions,  although  kinship  may  be 
traced  through  only  one  parent. 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  restrictions  on  entering  into 
the  marriage  relation  due  to  human  action,  and  which  may 
be  termed  social  restraints  on  promiscn  ity,  as  distinguished 
from  the  natural  restraints  arising  from  consanguinity. 
While  the  latter  affect  whole  classes,  the  former  may  be 
said  to  affect  individuals,  and  they  arise  from  the  claim 
made  by  parents  or  others  to  control  the  conduct  of  females 
belonging  to  the  family  group.  This  claim  is  asserted  in 
various  w^ays,  such  as,  on  the  one  hand,  the  prevention  of 
unchastity,  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  compulsory  provision 
of  the  sexual  hospitality  which  is  general  among  uncultured 
peoples,  and  which  anciently  formed  so  important  a  feature 
in  the  temple  service  of  the  Great  Goddess,  as  it  does  still 
in  India.  The  parental  right  is  asserted  also  in  betrothal, 
which  is  very  commonly  practised  even  while  the  female  is 
a  mere  infant.  Betrothal  is  useful,  where  it  is  not  abused 
in  the  interests  of  the  older  men  of  a  tribe,  as  it  operates, 
like  marriage,  to  put  the  tahn  on  females  who  might  other- 
w^ise  be  led  to  form  temporary  unions  outside  of  the  law 
of  marriage. 

There  is  a  further  motive  in  betrothal  and  marriage, 
which  has  reference  through  the  female  to  her  offspring. 
In  the  absence  of  any  arrangement  to  the  contrary,  a 
woman's  children  would  belong  to  their  mother's  family 
group.  Among  the  early  Arabs,  females  remained  at  home 
after  marriage,  whetlier  they  formed  temporary  or  perma- 
nent unions,  and  as  descent  was  traced  in  the  female  line, 
children  were  born  within  the  tribe  to  which  they  belonged- 


74  The  Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation. 

With  descent  in  the  male  line  the  same  result  would  follow 
if  the  wife  left  her  own  tribe  to  live  among  her  husband's 
kindred,  as  is  customary  with  the  Turanians.  If,  in  this 
case,  the  husband  remained  after  marriage  with  his  wife's 
family,  their  offspring  would  form  a  separate  group  of 
kinsfolk  within  the  wife's  tribe.  Such  apparently  has  been 
the  origin  of  the  gens  or  totem  group  among  the  American 
and  Australian  aborigines. 

The  claims  of  parents  and  others  which  constitute  the 
restrictions  on  marriage  due  to  human  agency,  are  not  less 
real  and  effective  than  those  arising  from  the  restraints 
due  to  consanguinity,  on  which  the  rule  of  exogamy  is 
based.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  the  former  may  not 
have  been  in  operation  from  so  early  a  period  as  the  latter ; 
seeing  that  in  the  earliest  form  of  the  marriage  relation, 
all  the  members  of  a  group  of  persons  stood  in  this  rela- 
tion to  all  the  members  of  an  adjoining  group,  so  that 
there  may  not  have  been  any  place  for  restrictions  other 
than  those  arising  from  consanguinity. 

Stating  now  the  law  in  its  widest  form,  we  may  say  that 
the  marriage  relation  may  take  any  fonn  that  is  consistent 
with  the  restrictions  from  time  to  time  imposed  by  nature  or 
by  man.  ■  It  is  important  to  notice,  with  reference  to  these 
restrictions,  that  although  their  primary  operation  is  to 
act  as  restraints  on  promiscuity,  yet  that  they  act  also  as 
inducements  to  marriage.  Dr.  Starcke,  after  considering 
certain  supposed  examples  of  promiscuity,  observes*  that 
"  if  marriage  were  decided  by  tlie  sexual  relations,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  understand  for  what  reason  marriages  were 
contracted  in  those  communities  in  which  an  altogether 
licentious  sexual  life  is  permitted  to  the  unmarried."  As 
a  fact,  however,  the  restrictions  above  referred  to  tend  to 
prevent  this  licentiousness,  as  they  are  intended  to  do,  and 
thus  induce  individuals  to  enter  into  the  legitimate  mar- 
riage relation.  There  are,  however,  various  active  induce- 
ments which  are  greatly  influential  over  the  formation  of 
that  relation.  Dr.  Starcke  remarks  that  a  man  connects 
himself  with  a  woman  in  order  that  she  may  keep  house 
for  him,  a  second  motive  being  that  of  obtaining  children. 
These  motives  alone  are  not  sufficient,  however,  and  we 
must  give  the  first  place  to  the  feeling,  call  it  love  or  sym- 
pathy, which  is  the  main-sjjring  of  marriage  in  civilized 

♦The  rriiuitive  Family  in  its  Origin  and  Development  (1889),  p.  256. 


The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  75 

societies.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  sympathy  is  a 
much  more  important  factor  in  the  formation  of  the 
marriage  relation  with  the  lower  races  than  is  generally 
allowed.  The  desire  for  companionship,  at  least,  is  uni- 
versal, and  it  is  an  expression  of  sympathetic  feeling.  It 
must  be  influential  wherever  a  man  leaves  his  own  home  to 
reside  with  another  family  to  secure  the  hand  of  a  woman ; 
especially  where,  as  is  often  the  case,  such  residence  entails 
service  which  amounts  to  considerable  self-sacrifice.  When 
a  change  took  place,  consequent  on  its  being  customary  for 
a  wife  to  leave  the  hut  of  her  parents  to  reside  in  that  of 
her  husband,  especially  if  this  were  among  his  kinsfolk, 
the  desire  to  have  some  one  to  take  charge  of  his  house- 
hold during  his  absence,  and  to  cook  the  food  supplied  by 
his  labors  as  a  hunter  or  a  fisherman,  would  acquire  in- 
creased force  as  an  inducement  to  marriage. 

It  is  by  the  birth  of  children  that  the  sexual  instinct 
effects  the  perpetuation  of  the  race  which  is  its  true  aim  in 
marriage,  and  we  must  assume,  therefore,  that  this  aim 
operates  as  a  strong  motive  for  marriage  itself.  We  must 
suppose  it,  indeed,  to  be  included  in  the  desire  for  compan- 
ionship which  is  the  earliest  inducement  for  entering  into 
the  marriage  relation.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  feeling 
of  sympathy  which  underlies  that  desire  would  be  increased 
by  the  birth  of  children,  for  whom  real  affection  is  enter- 
tained by  one  or  both  parents  among  all  peoples,  however 
uncultured.  The  importance  of  this  feeling  in  connection 
with  the  development  of  the  family  was  referred  to  by 
your  President  in  his  admirable  lecture  of  last  season  on 
the  "Evolution  of  Morals."  He  said  that  the  long  period 
of  infancy  ''held  the  family  together  and  necessitated  a 
continuance  of  those  acts  of  mutual  forbearance  and  affec- 
tion which  cease  among  animals  when  the  young  are  able 
to  make  shift  for  themselves.  The  mother  ministered  to 
the  child,  while  the  father  gathered  food  and  protected  the 
family  from  wild  beasts  and  savage  men.  Other  children 
came,  perhaps,  before  the  care  of  the  mother  over  the  first- 
born could  be  relaxed.  So,  in  the  rude  cave-dwelling,  grew 
up  the  germ  of  the  home  —  the  earliest  example  of  the 
permanent  family  relation." 

The  inducements  to,  or  motives  for,  entering  into  the 
marriage  relation  referred  to,  and  which  may  be  termed 
internal  or  subjective  conditions,  must  in  course  of  time 


76  The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation. 

have  had  considerable  influence  over  the  formal  develop- 
ment of  the  law  of  marriage.  There  are  other  and  objec 
tive  conditions,  however, —  those  which  constitute  the  exter- 
nal environment, —  which  are  at  first  the  most  important  in 
relation  to  such  development.  The  phase  of  marriage 
which  may  fit  a  people  dwelling  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  may 
not  be  suited  for  those  who  are  not  so  highly  favored  by 
natural  or  other  circumstances ;  and  so  also  with  a  city  or 
agricultural  population  as  compared  with  those  whose  lives 
are  more  unsettled.  The  hunting  condition  of  life  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  most  primitive,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  see 
what  phase  of  marriage  might  under  its  influence  be  devel- 
oped among  a  rude  people.  The  men  would  be  often  away 
from  home  for  a  considerable  time,  and  they  would  have  to 
leave  their  wives  behind  them  to  take  care  of  their  house- 
holds and  children.  They  would  be,  nevertheless,  desirous 
of  having  female  companions  during  their  absence,  which 
would  not  be  possible  if  each  man  had  a  wife  to  himself 
and  the  males  and  females  were  equal  in  number.  In  this 
case,  the  only  plan  that  could  be  adopted  would  be  for  the 
men  to  join  with  their  wives.  Some  of  the  women  could 
then  remain  at  home  to  take  care  of  the  families  of  the 
community,  while  the  others  would  accompany  the  men  to 
the  hunting-ground.  We  have  here  the  very  simplest  form 
of  the  marriage  relation,  and  it  is  found  in  actual  existence 
among  the  lowest  of  all  human  races,  the  aborigines  of 
Australia.  The  Australian  tribe  was  originally  divided 
into  two  groups,  or  ''classes,"  each  of  which  consisted  of 
a  body  of  kinsfolk,  male  and  female,  tracing  descent  from 
a  common  female  ancestor,  and  forbidden  to  marry  among 
themselves,  answering  to  the  gens  of  the  American  aborig- 
ines. The  llev.  Lorinier  Fison  states  that,  under  this 
system,  marriage  is  founded  on  the  rights,  not  of  individ- 
uals, but  of  the  "classes,"  and  theoretically  all  the  men  of 
each  group  are  married  to  all  the  women  of  the  group  to 
which  they  do  not  belong.  With  descent  in  the  female 
line,  each  group  may  be  supposed  to  have  consisted  origi- 
nally of  a  woman  and  her  offspring,  forming  two  families 
which  entered  into  the  marriage  relation  with  each  other, 
and  thus  originated  what  is  termed  ^ro«^;-marriage.  Tlie 
original  community  would  form  one  large  group  divided 
into  two  exogamous  intermarrying  sub-groups ;  answering 
somewhat    to    the    jninaluan   family    of    the    I'olynesian 


The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  77 

Islanders,  in  which  several  brothers  had  their  wives  in 
common,  or  several  sisters  had  their  husbands  in  common. 
The  Australian  system,  as  now  seen  in  practice,  gives 
every  man  and  woman  a  wife  or  husband,  and  also  one  or 
more  "  accessory  spouses,"  each  of  whom  may  be  husband 
or  wife  to  some  other  person.  In  all  cases  the  restriction 
on  the  intermarriage  of  kinsfolk  is  strictly  enforced. 

The  Australian  system  appears  to  me  to  furnish  the  key 
to  all  other  phases  of  the  marriage  relation.  These  depend 
on  the  conditions  under  which  they  have  been  developed, 
but  they  stand  in  a  definite  relation  to  group-marriage. 
Thus,  First,  the  group  idea  may  be  abolished  on  the  male 
side,  in  which  case  we  have  a  group  of  women  married  to 
a  single  man,  (a)  where  the  wives  are  kinswomen,  as  in  the 
sister  polygyny  of  the  American  aborigines,  and  (b)  where 
the  wives  are  strangers  in  blood,  giving  the  harem  or  com- 
mon polygyny  of  the  East.  Secondly,  the  group  idea  may  be 
abolished  on  the  female  side,  in  which  case  we  have  a 
group  of  men  married  to  a  single  female,  (a)  where  the 
husbands  are  kinsmen,  as  in  Tibetan  polyandry,  and  (b) 
where  the  husbands  are  strangers  in  blood,  as  in  Nair 
polyandry,  if  this  can  be  accepted  as  a  true  phase  of  the 
marriage  relation.  Thirdly,  with  the  group  idea  abolished 
on  both  sides,  we  have  the  intermarriage  of  two  individuals, 
giving  (a)  individual  marriage,  with  power  for  the  husband, 
under  special  circumstances,  to  marry  a  second  wife,  or  to 
take  accessory  wives — the  monandry  of  the  Turanian 
peoples  and  the  so-called  pairing-family  arrangement  of  the 
American  aborigines ;  and  (b)  the  individual  marriage  in 
which  a  man  has  but  one  wife,  and  a  woman  but  one  hus- 
band, unless  the  marriage  relation  is  terminated  by  divorce 
or  death, —  being  the  monogamy  of  modern  civilization. 

It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  determine  whether  the  primi- 
tive groui>marriage  was  developed  first  in  the  direction  of 
polygyny  or  polyandry,  but  as  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  men  at  first  left  their  own  family  groups  to  live  in  the 
groups  to  which  their  wives  belonged,  a  practice  which  is 
usually  associated  with  kinship  through  females,  and  as 
this  is  found  to  exist  among  the  more  primitive  human 
races,  many  of  whom  also  practice  polygyny,  we  may 
assume  that  polyandry  was  of  later  development.  Prob- 
ably the  marriage  of  a  man  to  several  sisters  originated  in  a 
state  of  society  where  families  were  comparatively  isolated, 


78  The  Growth  of  the  Mari'iage  Relation. 

as  may  be  the  case  in  a  sparsely  populated  region.  If, 
under  these  circumstances,  a  man  married  into  a  family 
which  had  several  daughters,  and  he  was  a  good  hunter  or 
hsherman,  he  would  be  allowed  to  enter  into  the  marriage 
relation  with  all  the  sisters,  giving  the  phase  of  polygyny 
(a)  which  was  at  one  time  usual  among  the  Indians  of 
North  America.  The  offspring  of  such  an  association 
would  belong  to  their  mother's  family-group,  and  Avhether 
they  had  one  or  several  fathers  would  be  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference in  a  rude  society.  The  question  of  food  supply 
would  be  an  important  factor,  and  if  the  husband  of  the 
eldest  daughter  was  not  a  good  provider  he  would  not  be 
allowed  to  marry  the  second  daughter,  and  possibly  might 
not  be  suffered  even  to  retain  the  hrst.  The  two  predomi- 
nant ideas  in  this  simplest  phase  of  polygyny  are  the 
retention  of  the  daughters,  and  therefore  their  children,  at 
home,  and  the  provision  of  food  for  the  supply  of  the  gen- 
eral family  group. 

The  second  phase  of  polygyny  (b),  that  of  the  harem  or 
common  polygynovis  family,  is  dependent  on  different  ideas 
from  the  earlier  j)hase.  Here  the  wives  are  usually  strangers 
in  blood,  although  not  necessarily  so,  and  instead  of  stay- 
ing at  home,  they  go  to  reside  in  the  family  group  of  their 
husband.  The  external  conditions  with  which  this  polygyny 
is  associated  are  those  of  plenty,  which  enables  a  man 
to  purchase  his  wives,  and  thus  to  acquire  the  right  to 
their  children.  It  is  consistent  with  this  view  that  mar- 
riage of  the  type  under  consideration  has  become  preva- 
lent especially  where  descent  in  the  male  line  is  preferred 
to  the  earlier  system  of  female  kinship,  although  it  is  prac- 
tised also  Avhere  this  system  is  established.  The  possession 
of  several  wives  may  not  only  insure  a  large  family,  but  it 
increases  a  man's  social  position,  as  he  is  enabled  to  pro- 
vide more  abundantly  for  his  guests.  This  is  the  cause 
assigned  for  polygyny  among  the  Islanders  of  the  I'aciHc, 
as  it  is  with  many  Asiatic  peoples.  Catlin  states,  in  rela- 
tion to  some  of  the  North  American  Indians,  that  they 
desire  a  plurality  of  wives  owing  to  the  advantage  to  be 
gained  by  having  "  a  stock  of  laborers,"  by  whom  a  man's 
wealth  may  be  increased.  On  the  other  hand,  among  the 
higher  races  the  possession  of  niany  wives  is  regarded  as 
evidence  of  wealth,  and,  as  'SXv.  8])eneer  remarks,  monog- 
amy is  considered  mean.     The  desire  for  increased  iniiu- 


The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  79 

ence  is  probably  everywhere  an  important  motive  for  the 
practise  of  polygyny,  partly  through  the  large  family 
which  may  result,  and  partly  owing  to  the  formation  of 
family  alliances  by  the  chiefs,  which  have  a  real  value  in 
the  absence  of  a  central  governing  authority,  for  giving  a 
greater  coherence  to  society. 

Referring  now  to  the  polyandrous  phase  of  the  marriage 
relation  (a),  in  which  a  group  of  kinsmen  are  married  to  a 
single  female,  we  find  it  usually  associated  with  conditions 
similar  to  those  where  a  group  of  kinswomen  are  married 
to  one  man.  There  are  two  essential  diiferences,  however, 
which  are  dependent  on  each  other.  Instead  of  the  men 
remaining  after  marriage  among  their  wife's  relations,  the 
woman  leaves  her  home  to  live  with  her  husbands,  at  their 
own  home.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  wife  is  pur- 
chased, and  consequently,  in  this  phase  of  polyandry,  the 
children  belong  to  their  fathers'  family  group,  instead  of  to 
that  of  their  mother  as  in  the  related  polygynous  marriage. 
The  Tibetans,  who  belong  to  the  same  stock  as  the  Mon- 
gols, are  the  most  pronounced  polyandrists  of  the  present 
day,  although  there  are  indications  that  the  practice  was  at 
one  time  widely  spread  throughout  the  Asiatic  continent. 
It  is  stated  by  Mr.  Andrew  Wilson  that,  among  the  Tibetan- 
speaking  people,  the  choice  of  a  wife  is  the  right  of  the 
eldest  brother,  but  "the  contract  he  makes  is  understood 
to  involve  a  marital  contract  with  all  the  other  brothers,  if 
they  choose  to  avail  themselves  of  it."  It  might  be  thought 
this  curious  custom  must  be  accompanied  by  a  scarcity  of 
women,  but,  as  a  fact,  there  is  in  Tibet  a  large  surplus  of 
women  who  are  maintained  in  the  Lama  nunneries.  The 
real  explanation  of  its  polyandry  may  be  inferred  from  the 
effect  which  this  practice  has  in  "checking  the  increase  of 
population  in  regions  from  which  emigration  is  difficult, 
and  where  it  is  also  difficult  to  increase  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence." Poverty  appears  to  have  been  the  ultimate 
cause  of  polyandry  wherever  this  system  has  prevailed, 
although  sometimes  it  is  accompanied  by  a  scarcity  of 
females,  diie  to  infanticide,  or  to  the  excessive  price  set  on 
them,  limiting  the  accessible  su})ply.  The  existence  of 
polyandry  among  a  people  possessing  much  property  is  due 
to  long  continued  habit,  which  originated  at  a  time  when 
they  lived  under  much  less  favorable  conditions. 

In  Ceylon,  where  polyandry  is  the   most  common  form 


80  The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation. 

taken  by  the  marriage  relation,  there  are  two  kinds  of  mar- 
riage, deega  and  heena.  The  former  is  where  a  woman  goes 
to  live  in  the  house  or  village  of  her  husband  or  husbands, 
and  the  latter  where  she  remains  at  home  after  marriage. 
Polyandry  of  the  Tibetan  type  is,  therefore,  of  the  deega 
sort.  Neither  this  nor  heena  marriage  is  necessarily  associ- 
ated with  polyandry,  but  Dr.  McLennan  identifies  the  latter 
with  the  curious  custom  prevalent  among  the  Nairs  of 
Malabar,  which  may  be  taken  as  an  example  of  polyandry 
of  the  type  (b)  where  the  husbands  are  strangers  in  blood. 
This  system,  like  the  ordinary  form  of  polygyny,  is 
associated  with  plenty  instead  of  poverty,  being  restricted 
to  the  higher  classes,  and  as  there  is  no  wife-purchase,  the 
children  follow  their  mothers  in  descent  and  are  the  heirs 
of  their  maternal  uncles.  According  to  Nair  custom,  a 
man  is  married  to  a  girl  of  his  own  caste,  but  he  leaves  her 
immediately  after  the  ceremony  and  never  revisits  her. 
Usually  she  continues  to  live  with  her  mother,  brothers, 
and  sisters,  the  head  of  the  household  being  the  mother, 
and,  on  her  death,  the  eldest  sister.  There  is  no  male  head 
of  the  family,  which  is  perpetuated  through  the  females, 
who,  after  their  marriage,  have  the  right  to  receive  the 
visits  of  certain  Brahmins,  and  of  Nairs  other  than  their 
nominal  husbands.  By  this  arrangement  each  male  Nair 
may  have  a  share  in  several  wives,  who  answer  to  the 
"  accessory  spouses  "  of  Australian  group-marriage,  but,  as 
he  is  not  allowed  to  associate  with  his  own  wife,  he  has 
not  the  privileges  of  the  Noa,  or  marital  relation.  That 
curious  custom  probably  originated  in  the  Nairs,  who  are  a 
military  caste  of  Sudras,  taking  a  vow  of  celibacy,  as  was 
usual  among  the  Christian  knights  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Nair  women,  after  their  nominal 
marriage,  Avere  permitted,  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating 
the  caste,  to  form  irregular  associations  with  the  younger 
Brahmins,  who  themselves  were  not  permitted  to  marry. 
When  the  vow  of  celibacy  was  relaxed  the  prohibition  was 
continued  so  far  as  a  Nair's  own  wife  was  concerned,  but 
he  was  allowed  to  visit  other  Nair  women,  the  Brahmins 
still  retaining  their  old  privilege. 

We  have  now  to  trace  the  origin  of  individual  marriage, 
that  is,  the  living  together  in  the  marriage  relation  of  only 
two  individuals,  who  may  be  said  to  rei)resent  the  two 
primitive  intermarrying  groups.     Various  causes  have  been 


The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  81 

assigned  for  the  origin  of  systematic  individual  marriage, 
which,  before  it  could  be  exhibited  in  the  higher  phase  of 
monogamy,  must  pass  through  the  lower  form  (a)  of  monan- 
dry, which  allows  a  man  under  special  circumstances  to 
enter  into  the  marriage  relation  with  another  woman  during 
his  wife's  lifetime.  There  is  no  doubt  that  individual  mar- 
riage may  exist  alongside  of  polygyny  or  polyandry.  In  fact, 
where  the  former  of  these  systems  is  permitted,  it  is 
restricted  in  practice  to  men  who  are  well-to-do,  the  major- 
ity being  necessarily  limited  to  one  wife, —  as  in  polyan- 
drous  communities  they  have  to  be  satisfied  with  a  share 
in  one.  There  does  not  appear,  however,  to  be  any  evidence 
that  monandry,  except  of  this  accidental  kind,  existed  in 
the  earliest  times.  The  wife-purchase,  which  Mr.  Spencer 
supposes  to  have  aided  at  a  later  date  in  the  establishment 
of  monogamy,  is,  moreover,  associated  with  the  earlier 
systems  of  polygyny  and  polyandry.  In  fact  it  is  a  question 
how  far  wife-purchase  was  practised  by  the  truly  monog- 
amous peoples  of  antiquity. 

Among  the  causes  which,  with  monandrous  peoples, 
induce  men  to  enter  into  the  marriage  relation  a  second 
time  while  the  first  wife  is  living,  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant is  the  desire  for  children.  Where  a  wife  is  childless, 
or  has  no  son,  it  is  not  surprising  if,  considering  the  natural 
object  of  marriage,  a  man  marries  a  second  wife,  with  or 
without  divorcing  the  first  one.  To  the  ordinary  reasons 
for  desiring  male  offspring,  was  added  at  an  early  date, 
a  superstitious  one  based  on  the  necessity  of  having  a 
sou  to  perform  the  funeral  rites.  The  idea  that  happiness 
in  the  future  life  was  thus  secured  is  universal  among 
the  ancient  nations.  It  was  founded  on  the  belief,  enter- 
tained also  by  many  existing  races,  that  the  father  lives 
again  in  his  son.  Hence,  the  not  having  a  son,  was  always 
regarded  as  a  sufficient  justification  for  the  marrying  of  a 
second  wife. 

Although,  according  to  what  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
proper  view  of  so-called  "marriage  by  capture,"  it  is  a 
mere  ceremony,  and  has  to  do  with  kinship  rather  than  the 
evolution  of  marriage,  a  notice  of  it  may  be  introduced 
here,  as  it  is  practised  chiefly  among  peoples  having  sys- 
tematic monandry.  The  essential  element  of  that  ceremony 
is  stated  by  Dr.  McLennan,  when  he  says,  "the  marriage  is 
agreed  upon  by  bargain,  and  the  theft  or  abduction  follows 


82  The  Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation. 

as  a  concerted  matter  of  form,  to  make  valid  the  marriage." 
He  adds :  "  The  test,  then,  of  the  presence  of  the  symbol 
in  any  case  is,  that  the  capture  is  concerted,  and  is  preceded 
by  a  contract  of  marriage.  If  there  is  no  preceding  con- 
tract, the  case  is  one  of  actual  abduction."  *  It  would  be 
thought,  therefore,  that  cases  of  abduction  are  excluded 
from  a  consideration  of  "  marriage  by  capture  " ;  instead  of 
which,  however.  Dr.  McLennan  bases  his  explanation  of  the 
ceremony  on  the  early  theft  of  women  of  foreign  tribes, 
which  he  thinks  became  symbolized  "among  exogamous 
tribes,  out  of  respect  for  immemorial  usage,  when  friendly 
relations  came  to  be  established  between  tribes  and  families, 
and  their  members  intermarried  by  purchase  instead  of 
capture."  I  have  elsewhere  given  my  reasons  for  dissent- 
ing from  this  conclusion,  which  appears  not  to  be  warranted 
by  the  facts.  What  is  called  "marriage  by  capture,"  is 
really  "  ceremonial  capture  in  marriage."  It  has  relation 
to  the  contract  of  marriage,  the  pre-existence  of  which  is 
its  essential  condition,  and  it  refers  in  t\ie  first  place  to  the 
bride;  and  secondly  to  the  offspring  of  the  marriage  itself. 
The  latter  is  the  most  important  feature,  and  it  depends 
on  the  fact  that  the  effect  of  the  contract  of  marriage  is  to 
take  away  from  the  family  group  of  tlie  bride  the  children 
to  l)e  born  of  the  marriage,  and  give  them  to  the  family 
group  of  the  husband.  The  ceremony  may  possibly  be  in 
imitation  of  actual  cai)ture.  If  so,  however,  it  is  not  evi- 
dence of  a  former  general  condition  of  society  when  women 
were  stolen  for  wives,  but  it  is  rather  a  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  women  captured  during  warfare  belong  to  the 
victors,  and  that  their  children  are  incorporated  with  the 
conquering  people.  Ceremonial  capture  is,  indeed,  often  in 
the  nature  of  a  feigned  combat  between  the  relatives  of  the 
bridegroom  and  those  of  the  bride;  in  which  tlie  former 
are  successful  only  because  this  is  required  by  the  agree- 
ment previously  entered  into  between  the  parties.  There 
is  another  object  in  view,  however,  which  is  probably  the 
most  important  motive  of  the  whole  ceremonial.  It  ojjer- 
ates  as  a  public  announcement  of  the  marriage  and  of  the 
consequences  to  flow  froni  it.  Where  the  bride's  consent 
has  not  already  been  obtained,  she  usually  has  the  oppor- 
tunity of  refusing  to  be  captured,  or  of  afterwards  leaving 
tlie  husband  chosen  for  her.     The  consent  of   tlie  bride's 


♦Studies  in  Ancieut  Histor>%  p.  1" 


The  Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  83 

friends  is  shown  by  their  allowing  her  to  be  carried  off, 
which  also  operates  as  a  relinquishment  of  their  right  to 
her  offspring,  and  the  ceremony  can  at  any  future  time  be 
referred  to  as  evidence  of  these  facts,  as  well  as  of  the 
marriage  itself,  if  it  should  be  called  in  question  on  either 
side. 

Returning  now  to  individual  marriage  —  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  its  enforced  practice,  by  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances, would  lead  to  its  general  establishment  on  a 
moral  basis.  The  substitution  of  systematic  monogamy 
for  polygyny  or  polyandry  is  due  to  a  subjective  change, 
rather  than  an  external  change  of  conditions;  although 
there  does  not  appear  to  be  any  special  tendency  to  such  a 
system,  apart  from  the  general  progress  which  is  exhibited 
in  the  evolution  of  human  society.  The  feeling  of  self- 
respect  which  is  probably  at  the  root  of  individual  marriage 
of  the  true  type,  is  very  strong  among  the  Chinese,  as  it  is 
with  other  peoples  of  a  similar  degree  of  culture,  although 
men  are  allowed  certain  latitude  Avhich  is  not  conceded  to 
women.  That  feeling  forbids  women  to  remarry  on  the 
death  of  their  husbands,  and  it  must  be  influential  over  the 
conduct  of  the  men  themselves.  Self-respect  is  assigned  as 
a  reason  for  the  abandonment  of  polyandry  by  the  Kandyan 
chiefs,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  has  much  to  do  with 
the  fact  of  polygyny  losing  its  hold  on  the  higher  classes 
in  Egypt  and  other  Mohammedan  countries,  the  establish- 
ment of  monandry  among  whom  may  be  regarded  as  a  real 
moral  advance. 

If  the  development  of  monandry  is  the  result  of  a  sub- 
jective change,  mvich  more  must  it  be  so  with  the  higher 
phase  of  individual  marriage  in  which  neither  the  man  nor 
the  woman  can  enter  into  the  marriage  relation  with  another 
individual,  unless  released  from  their  first  tie  by  divorce  or 
death.  Probably  there  have  always  been  examples  of  this 
higher  marriage  among  the  Chinese,  whose  ideas  as  to  the 
requirement  of  a  son  to  perform  the  funereal  rites  are 
shared  by  the  Hindoos  and  the  allied  Aryan  peoples  of 
antiquity,  among  whom  monogamy  was  developed.  This, 
however,  differs  essentially  from  the  monandry  of  the 
Turanian  peoples,  in  that  not  only  is  it  founded  on  mutual 
regard,  with  exchange  of  presents  instead  of  wife-purchase, 
but  it  is  placed  under  the  sanction  of  religion. 

Monogamy  thus  represents  the  highest  phase  of  develop- 


84  The  Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation. 

ment  of  which  the  marriage  relation  is  capable.  It  places 
husband  and  wife  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality,  and  they 
are  united  by  a  spiritual  as  well  as  a  social  bond,  which  is 
supposed  to  constitute  for  both  of  them  a  perpetual  engage- 
ment. Marriage  was  to  the  ancients,  however,  something 
more  than  the  uniting  in  heart  and  hand  of  two  individ- 
uals; it  was  the  mode  provided  by  nature  for  continuing 
the  succession  of  persons  required  to  perform  the  rites  of 
the  religion  of  the  hearth  and  of  ancestors.  The  continu- 
ity of  the  family  was  thus  regarded  as  the  first  and  holiest 
of  duties. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  ideas  embodied  in  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Persian  Zoroaster,  the  Jews  not  only  acquired 
a  purer  faith,  but  they  gradually  replaced  their  early 
polygyny  with  monogamy.  The  marriage  relation  with  them, 
and  therefore  Avith  the  primitive  Christians,  retained  its 
religious  sanction,  and  the  law  of  marriage  was  expressed 
in  the  words  of  Genesis,  "a  man  shall  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  shall  cleave  unto  his  wife,  and  they  shall  be 
one  flesh."  There  were,  however,  ideas  afloat  in  the  East 
relative  to  marriage  which  were  especially  attractive  to 
many  persons  in  the  early  Christian  church.  In  the  ancient 
mysteries  it  was  taught  that  the  association  of  tlie  soul 
Avith  the  material  body  Avas  a  source  of  spiritual  impurity, 
from  Avhich  it  had  to  be  freed.  Birth,  if  not  an  evil,  Avas 
the  cause  of  evil,  and  it  was  not  going  much  further  to 
assert  that  that  to  Avhich  birth  Avas  due  Avas  also  evil. 
These  ideas  strongly  influenced  early  Christianity,  and  its 
followers,  expecting  also  an  early  return  of  Jesus  to  earth, 
and  the  end  of  the  existing  order  of  things,  regarded  mai'- 
riage  as  at  least  useless.  St.  Paul  appears  to  have  been  of 
this  opinion,  and,  although  he  authorized  marriage  Avheu 
expedient,  yet  he  did  not  look  upon  it  as  so  high  a  state  as 
virginity ;  in  Avhich  he  Avas  folloAved  by  many  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  Churcli. 

It  Avould  have  been  a  misfortune  for  Christianity,  no  less 
than  for  society,  if  those  ideas  had  retained  their  vitality. 
After  the  fire  of  Christian  zeal  had  Avell  nigh  burned  out, 
hoAvever,  marrijbge  Avas  restored  to  its  proper  place  as  a 
sacred  bond  between  two  individuals,  and  a  natural  pro- 
A'ision  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  race  through  the  family. 
It  felt,  moreoA^er,  the  retiuing  influence  of  the  emotion 
Avhich,  having  at  first  been  appropriated  almost  entirely  to 


Tlie   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  85 

the  founder  of  Christianity,  was  now  shown  also  towards 
the  life-partner  in  the  cares  and  duties  of  earthly  existence. 
The  marriage  relation  was  thus  elevated  and  spiritualized, 
although  it  is  questionable  whether  it  was  more  so  than 
with  the  early  Aryans,  to  whom  it  was  the  most  sacred  of 
engagements  and  therefore  the  most  difficult  to  be  absolved 
from.  Through  the  centuries  which  elapsed  after  the 
rehabilitation  of  marriage  it  again  suffered,  but  in  a  differ- 
ent direction.  Among  the  higher  classes  especially  it 
lost  much  of  its  spirituality ;  although  it  had  become 
a  sacrament  of  the  church,  and  was  held  to  be  indissoluble, 
except  in  very  speciat  cases. 

Since  the  Eeformation,  the  Protestant  sects  have  departed, 
in  their  ideas  of  the  marriage  relation,  from  the  views  ex- 
pressed by  the  founder  of  Christianity.  The  marriage  cere- 
mony having  ceased  to  be  regarded  by  them  as  a  sacrament, 
or  even  by  many  Protestants  as  an  ecclesiastical  office, 
marriage  itself  has  gradually  lost  its  indissoluble  nature, 
and  hence  the  practice  of  divorce  for  causes  other  than 
adultery  has  been  introduced.  This  is  reverting  to  what 
was  customary  in  the  ancient  world  before  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity,  and  so  long  as  the  power  of  divorce 
is  not  abused  it  is  undoubtedly  required  by  the  laws  of 
social  progress.  Ill-assorted  marriages  cannot  have  been 
"made  in  heaven,"  nor  even,  as  the  Japanese  suppose,  by 
ancestral  spirits  on  earth;  and  they  should  be  dissolved 
when  their  failure  is  not  due  to  fraudulent  design.  The 
State  should  intervene  to  prevent  the  success  of  attempted 
fraud,  but  it  should  provide  for  divorce  by  simple,  though 
not  hasty  means,  in  other  cases, —  treating  the  contract  of 
marriage  as  it  would  any  other  contract,  and  giving  as  great 
facilities  for  setting  it  aside,  if  its  terms  cannot  be  properly 
carried  out,  as  it  does  for  the  contract  to  be  entered  into. 

The  State  should  also  deal  with  questions  of  marriage 
disability  —  consequent  on  relationship.  The  descriptive 
system,  under  which  kinship  is  traced  through  both  father 
and  mother  would,  if  the  old  rule  of  marriage  were  en- 
forced, exclude  from  intermarriage  all  persons  of  kin 
through  either  parent,  however  distantly  related.  This 
would  be  carrying  the  objection  to  consanguineous  unions 
—  which  seems  justifiable  on  natural  grounds* — much  too 

*Mr.  George  H.  Darwin,  as  the  result  of  his  inquiries,  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  "  various  maladies  take  an  easy  hold  of  the  offsjjrinf^  of  consanguine- 
ous marriages,"  although  tliey  are  probably  as  prolific  as  ordinary  ones. 


86  The   Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation. 

far,  and  it  was  finally  decided,  therefore,  in  connection  with 
the  system  above  referred  to,  that  any  persons  may  inter- 
marry provided  they  are  not  more  nearly  related  to  each 
other  on  either  side  tlian  in  the  fourth  degree. 

The  Christian  church,  however,  introduced  a  new  series 
of  disabilities,  by  making  affinity  through  marriage  as 
much  a  bar  as  blood-relationship  itself.  Such  questions  as 
marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister  or  a  deceased  hus- 
band's brother  are  not  for  the  church  to  decide.  They 
should  be  treated  as  questions  of  social  expediency,  to  be 
settled  by  the  State,  in  which  light  should  be  regarded  also 
all  matters  coming  under  the  head  of  "social  restraints" 
on  marriage,  now  represented  by  the  simple  requirement  of 
the  consent  of  parents  or  guardians. 

A  few  words  may  be  said,  in  conclusion,  as  to  the  future 
of  the  marriage  relation.  We  have  seen  that  in  tlie  animal 
kingdom,  and  therefore  with  primitive  man,  the  chief 
actions  of  life  are  directed  toward  self-preservation  and  the 
perpetuation  of  the  race.  Where  these  interests  came  into 
conflict  the  former  necessarily  prevailed,  as  the  individual 
always  preferred  himself  to  that  of  which  he  merely 
formed  a  part.  In  these  latter  ages  we  may  expect  the 
same  result  to  follow  from  the  antagonism  between  self 
and  race  which  always  exists.  It  now  takes,  however,  a 
different  form  from  what  it  had  during  primitive  ages, —  at 
least  when  man  lives  for  something  more  than  the  supply 
of  mere  physical  wants  or  the  gratification  of  the  sensuous 
side  of  his  nature.  Ever  since  man's  thoughts  came  to  be 
elevated  there  has  been  a  constant  antagonism  between  the 
lower  and  higher  principles  of  his  being.  Christianity  is 
a  phase  of  this  conflict,  concerned  hitherto,  however,  chiefly 
with  the  emotional  element  in  man's  nature,  but  the  great 
mental  development  which  has  taken  place  during  recent 
centuries  is  resulting  in  the  subordination  of  the  emotions 
to  the  intellect.  The  consequence  of  this  must  be  that  the 
marriage  relation  will  be  entered  into  with  more  delibera- 
tion than  formerly,  and  its  conditions  be  regulated  in 
accordance  with  definite  principles.  It  is  quite  possible, 
indeed,  that  as  a  result  of  the  development  of  the  intel- 
lectual faculties,  which  constitute  the  chief  element  in 
individuality,  the  desire  to  escape  the  cares  of  a  family 
may  lead  to  a  disinclination  for  marriage,  if  even  there  is 
not  a  repugnance  to  it. 


The  Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  87 

In  the  interests  of  the  race  this  result  must  be  deplored ; 
but  should  it  occur,  it  may  point  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
highest  evolutionary  progress  which  mankind  is  capable  of 
must  be  looked  for  in  another  state  of  existence,  where, 
the  mind  not  being  subject  as  at  present  to  material  influ- 
ences, its  noblest  faculties  will  attain  their  full  develop- 
ment. If,  however,  the  instinct  of  race  continues  to  be 
sufficiently  strong  to  induce  the  more  intellectual  class  to 
enter  into  the  marriage  relation,  but  under  such  a  sense  of 
duty  as  that  which  led  the  followers  of  Zoroaster  to  address 
prayers  to  Ormuzd  that  he  would  bless  the  union,  and  give 
them  children  "renowned  by  merit,  who  would  be  chiefs 
in  the  assemblies,"  the  result  might  be  the  evolution  of  a 
people  superior  in  physical  and  mental  constitution  to  any 
the  world  has  yet  seen.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  conceivable 
that  such  a  development  of  intellectual  wealth  might  be 
attended  with  a  result  similar  to  that  which  has  been 
observed  in  regard  to  the  accumulation  of  material  wealth, 
—  a  gradual  lessening  of  the  number  of  its  possessors,  and 
their  final  extinction,  leaving  the  race  to  be  perpetuated  by 
those  less  abundantly  endowed,  mentally  if  not  physically. 

There  is,  however,  another  possibility  to  be  contem- 
plated. With  improvement  in  sanitary  arrangements,  and 
in  the  general  physical  conditions  under  which  the  masses 
of  the  people  live,  combined  with  immunity  from  warfare, 
which  must  ultimately  attend  the  progress  of  mankind  in 
civilization,  the  increase  in  population  will  be  so  great  that 
measures  of  some  kind  will  have  to  be  adopted  to  keep  it 
within  reasonable  limits.  Whether  it  will  then  be  proper 
or  politic  to  provide  for  the  improvement  of  the  race  may 
be  left  for  posterity  to  decide.  Schopenhauer  was  probably 
right,  however,  when  he  said  "  could  we  prevent  all  villains 
from  becoming  fathers  of  families,  shut  up  the  dunder- 
heads in  monasteries,  .  .  .  and  provide  every  girl  of  spirit 
and  intellect  with  a  husband  worthy  of  her,  we  might  look 
for  an  age  surpassing  that  of  Pericles." 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  STATE 


BY 

JOHN  A.  TAYLOK 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology,"  Vols.  1  and  2,  "Political 
Institutions,"  "  Study  of  Sociology  "  and  "  Social  Statics  " ;  Fiske's 
" Cosmic  Philosophy,"  "American  Political  Ideas"  and  "Begin- 
nings of  New  England  " ;  Keary's  " Dawn  of  History  "  ;  Lubbock's 
"Origin  of  Civilization";  Coulange's  "Ancient  City";  Maine's 
"Ancient  Law,"  "Early  Law  and  Customs,"  "Popular  Govern- 
ment" and  "Historic  Institutions";  Tj'lor's  "Early  History  of 
Mankind";  Morris's  "The  Aryan  Race  :  Its  Oi'igin  and  Achieve- 
ments" ;  Amos's  "Science  of  Law"  ;  Bagehot's  "  Physics  and  Pol- 
itics" and  "English  Constitution";  Ritchie's  "Darwinism  and 
Politics"  ;  Adams's  "Village Communities"  ;  Freeman's  "History 
of  Federal  Government,"  "Comparative  Politics"  and  "Growth 
of  the  English  Constitvition"  ;  Bryce's  "American  Commonwealth"  ; 
Morgan's  "Ancient  Society";  Howard's  "Local  Constitutional 
History  of  the  United  States";  DeLolme  on  "The  English  Con- 
stitution"; Holmes's  "Constitutional  History  of  England"; 
Stubbs's  "Constitutional  History";  Mill's  "Representative  Gov- 
ernment"; Woolsey's  "Political  Science";  Von  Hoi tz's  "Consti- 
tutional Law." 

(90) 


THE    EVOLUTION    OF    THE    STATE.* 


Nearly  six  hundred  years  ago,  on  the  banks  of  the  most 
famous  river  in  Germany,  the  foundations  of  a  majestic 
cathedral  were  laid.  Within  a  hundred  years  from  that 
time,  a  part  of  the  building  was  consecrated,  and  thence- 
forward the  pilgrims  to  that  sacred  temple  saw  only  an 
unfinished  shrine.  Within  the  present  generation,  without 
a  change  of  plan, —  the  name  of  the  architect  lost  to 
human  knowledge, —  it  has  been  completed  in  the  precise 
way  in  which  it  was  designed,  and  presents  the  loftiest 
example  of  pure  Gotliic  architecture  to  be  found  in  Europe. 
The  traveler,  who  stands  with  wondering  admiration  within 
its  aisles,  reflects  that,  when  its  deep  foundation-stones 
were  put  in  place,  the  art  of  printing  was  unknown,  the 
works  of  Shakespeare  were  unwritten.  Constitutional  lib- 
erty was  yet  to  be  conceived  of.  Pope  Innocent  IV.  was 
the  real  ruler  of  civilization,  and  the  great  majority  of  men 
were  slaves.  Yet  no  more  surely  did  the  germ  of  this 
magnificent  structure  lie  perfect,  yet  unevolved,  in  the 
thought  of  this  unknown  master  of  his  noble  art,  than  did. 
the  present  structure  of  the  civilized  State  lie  dormant  in 
the  rude  elements  of  government  which  then  existed. 

"  The  roots  of  the  present,"  it  has  been  said,  "  lie  deep 
in  the  past,  and  nothing  in  the  past  is  dead  to  the  man  who 
would  learn  how  the  present  comes  to  be  what  it  is."  The 
State  is  what  we  make  it, —  each  of  us, —  all  of  us.  Of  the 
more  than  a  billion  people  who  live  upon  the  earth,  each 
single  being  constitutes  an  independent,  self-related  center 
to  which  subjective  unit  all  the  phenomena  of  the  world, 
including  every  other  of  the  billion  people,  is  objective. 
There  is  an  inside  and  an  outside  world.  The  one  is  wrapt 
in  subjective  privacy.  It  is  the  secret  penetralia  of  the 
human  being.  It  is  known  only  to  the  ego.  The  other  is 
open  to  the  perception  and  judgment  of  all  mankind.  To 
its  just  measurement  all  of  history,  science,  art,  human 
experience,  invention  and  imagination  contribute. 

*  COPYKIGHT,  1890,  l)y  Jauies  H.  West. 


92  The  Evolution  of  the  State. 

Constantly,  through  the  ages,  some  great  soul,  out  of  the 
many  people,  has  arrested  the  attention  of  mankind  by 
mastering  all  the  known  facts  of  life,  and  giving  expres- 
sion, in  thought  or  deed,  to  the  highest  known  human  ideal. 
Such  a  man,  in  ethics,  was  Jesus ;  in  literature,  Shake- 
speare; in  state-craft,  Lincoln.  Tliese  were  types  of  an 
unusual  order  of  humanity.  They  marked,  at  different 
ages  of  the  world,  the  possibilities  of  manhood.  It  has 
required  the  long  perspective  of  eighteen  centuries  to 
approximately  estimate  the  worth  of  Jesus, —  so  long, 
indeed,  that  his  human  nature  has  been  resolved  by  millions 
of  his  believers  into  the  qualities  of  a  supernatural  being, 
—  a  God.  These  great  men,  and  all  the  exceptionally 
strong  natures  of  all  known  periods,  have  signally  served 
to  indicate  the  heights  to  which  our  common  human  nature 
could  attain.  They  constitute  the  exceptional  beings  of 
their  time. 

Now  it  is  manifest  that  all  problems,  dealing  with 
humanity  as  a  whole,  must  take  into  consideration  every 
living  human  being.  "  Society,"  says  Thompson,  our  lead- 
ing American  Psychologist, —  ''  is  an  organic  whole,  of 
"whose  members  each  is  at  the  same  time  the  means  and  the 
end  of  all  the  rest."  And  when  Ave  inquire  to  what  pres- 
ent height  has  the  State  evolved,  Ave  have  to  determine, 
not  Avhat  achievements  have  been  made  possible  for  special 
sons  of  genius,  but  how  the  State  deals  Avith  the  average 
man,  the  Avorld  over.  And  in  the  first  place  Ave  must 
clearly  recognize  Avhat  the  State  is. 

Obviously  the  evolution  of  the  State  is  not  merely  the 
evolution  of  man.  It  deals  rather  Avith  the  growth  of 
mankind  in  association,  considered  solely  as  a  governing 
entity.  Whenever  tAvo  men  come  together  in  their  habitat, 
agreement  becomes  necessary ;  in  other  Avords,  they  must 
he.  organized,  and  there  is  founded  a  rudimental  State. 
Herbert  Spencer  says,  "Socially  as  Avell  as  individually, 
organization  is  indispensable  to  growth, — beyond  a  certain 
point  there  cannot  be  further  groAvth  Avithout  further  organ- 
ization." 

The  State  has  been  defined  to  be  "a  Avhole  people  united 
into  one  body  ])olitic";  and  again,  as  "the  visible  embodi- 
ment of  justice  under  the  conditions  of  human  society." 
Por  the  purpose  of  this  j)a])er,  the  State  Avill  be  considered 
as  the  seat  of  supreme  political  poAver,  Avhence  proceed  all 


The  Evolution  of  the  State.  93 

binding  rules  of  civic  conduct.  This  supreme  political 
authority  may  find  its  warrant  in  a  written  code,  as  in  the 
United  States  Constitution ;  it  may  rest  upon  unexpressed 
political  postulates,  like  the  English  Constitution;  or  it 
may  reside  alone  in  the  will  of  an  absolute  sovereign  like 
the  Russian  Czar. 

It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  the  evolution  of  such  a 
political  entity  is  something  different  from  the  growth  of 
society  or  individual  development.  It  witnesses  in  its 
present  condition  the  latest,  and  therefore  the  highest 
known  exposition  of  the  governing  faculty  in  man.  Nor 
will  it  be  at  all  certain  that  we  shall  find,  in  the  present 
attainment  of  the  State,  a  stage  of  development  at  all 
commensurate  with  the  development  of  science,  art,  litera- 
ture or  invention.  Indeed,  we  are  confronted  at  the 
threshold  of  our  inquiry  by  the  question,  has  the  State 
evolved  ?  Is  there  any  law  of  development  by  which 
succeeding  stages  of  political  institutions  may  be  said  to 
have  been  related  to  previous  states  of  being  ? 

Eemembering  that  the  trend  of  all  evolution  is  from  the 
simple  to  the  complex,  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  hetero- 
geneous, we  must  expect  to  find  humanity  progressing 
along  the  lines  of  an  intelligent  development,  each  step  a 
cause,  and  each  step  a  sequence,  proceeding  upward  and 
onward  toward  a  completer  form  of  government.  Ko  one 
can,  of  course,  expect  that  upon  this  occasion  any  coherent 
outline  even,  shall  be  suggested  of  the  principles  or  laws 
upon  which  the  State  shall  have  been  evolved.  Little  more 
can  be  done  than  to  glance  ra|)idly  at  certain  epochs  in 
State  evolution,  find,  if  Ave  may,  some  connecting  links 
between  the  different  stages  of  society,  and  draw  from 
these  such  indications  as  may  be  discerned  of  future  ten- 
dencies. Of  one  thing,  at  the  outset,  the  evolutionist  may 
be  sure.  The  law  of  evolution  is  either  universal  or  it  does 
not  exist.  The  great  generalization  of  Spencer,  that  things 
do  not  drift,  but  proceed,  is  as  inseparable  fi'om  the  develop- 
ment of  the  most  magnificent  commonwealth  as  from  the 
lowest  animal  cell  known  to  the  biologist.  Whether  we 
find  the  law  or  not,  it  is  there ;  just  as  the  rolling  planets 
of  the  universe  were  held  poised  in  the  limitless  spaces 
ages  and  ages  before  Newton  discovered  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation. 

Let  us  then  consider,  for  a  moment,  some  of  the  begin- 


94  The  Evolutiou  of  the  State. 

nings  of  government.  Without  doubt  its  earliest  form  was 
the  patriarchal.  Even  before  the  time  when  savaged 
chose  the  tallest  man  for  chief,  the  family  head  had  exer- 
cised his  petty  sway.  The  father  was  an  absolute  power 
among  all  ancient  peoples.  Among  the  Romans  he  could 
sell  his  children  into  slavery,  and  sons  who  held  the  high- 
est offices  could  still  own  no  estates.  Such  a  potentate  was 
the  unit  of  the  rude  State  of  his  time.  The  numbers  of 
those  who  were  considered  as  making  up  the  State  wer£, 
reckoned  only  by  such  headships,  and  the  larger  authority 
conferred  upon  the  leader  of  the  State  was  fashioned  upon 
the  basis  of  family  government  as  it  then  existed. 

Out  of  these  family  associations  came  the  clans,  still 
held  together  by  ties  of  blood,  all  worshiping  a  common 
ancestor  and  either  contesting  for  the  headship  of  the  clan 
or  agreeing  by  consent  of  the  heads  of  the  families  upon  a 
chief.  The  numbers  of  the  clan  were  doubtless  largely 
increased  by  the  fiction  of  adopted  children,  a  process 
which  imported,  to  the  special  clan,  new  blood,  and  at  the 
same  time  extended  its  power  and  influence.  The  clan, 
still  further  evolved  into  the  tribal  State,  was  a  form  of 
government  fitted  only  for  nomadic  people,  and  as  soon  as 
the  race  advanced  to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  and  the 
formation  of  stable  communities,  locality  undoubtedly  be- 
came the  important  bond  of  adhesion,  and  a  clearer  con- 
ception of  the  modern  State  began  to  appear.  And  when 
the  boundaries  of  cities  were  enlarged,  by  conquest,  to 
great  territories,  the  flag  became  the  symbol  of  one  people, 
and  the  great  father  or  king  over  this  land  found  in  the 
head  of  the  family  the  suggestion  and  limitation  of  his 
power. 

Now,  the  idea  upon  which  the  father's  absolute  domin- 
ion over  the  family  was  based,  rested  upon  the  inability  of 
the  wife  and  children  to  control  themselves,  or  wisely 
measure  their  own  necessities ;  and  so  long  as  the  concep- 
tion of  the  State  was  simply  that  of  a  huge  family,  the 
king,  whether  chosen  or  hereditary,  postulated  his  dominion 
upon  the  immaturity  of  his  subjects.  The  subjects  were 
children,  the  king  the  father.  The  king's  will  was  the 
law  of  the  ruder  State,  as  the  father's  had  been  of  the 
family,  and  long  before  the  individual  man  had  become 
recognized  as  the  true  unit  of  the  State,  the  old  English 
barons  were  combating  the  allied  forces  of  the  king  and 


The  Evolution  oj   the  State.  95 

the  lower  people  in  their  revolt  against  the  oppression  of 
the  crown.  Thus  early,  it  becomes  us  to  note  that  the 
State  was  little  more  than  a  most  inconvenient,  though 
necessary,  burden  upon  the  race,  so  long  as  it  failed  to 
recognize  manhood  as  the  one  indispensable  ingredient  of 
successful  political  institutions. 

Such  was  the  rule  of  petty  kings;  and  whenever,  by 
conquest,  numbers  of  petty  sovereignties  were  reduced  to 
one  dominion,  there  was  developed  a  representation  of  each 
small  kingdom  or  tribe  by  its  chosen  head,  which,  under 
such  rulers  as  William  the  Conqueror,  in  England,  grad- 
ually came  to  form  an  aristocracy  of  nobles  who  were 
destined  to  force  the  king  to  enlarge  the  freedom  of  the 
masses,  in  order  that  he  might  himself  escape  destruction. 
Meantime  the  powerful  influence  of  the  church,  which 
before  the  art  of  printing  was  discovered  was  the  sole 
vehicle  of  knowledge,  was  preparing  the  way  for  the  voice 
of  the  people  to  be  heard  in  the  councils  of  the  State.  So 
that,  four  centuries  ago,  taking  England  as  the  most  ad- 
vanced example,  the  evolution  of  the  State  had  reached  a 
point  where  the  one  man  power  of  primitive  times  had 
been  largely  circumscribed  by  the  successful  assaults  of 
the  common  people  upon  the  strongholds  of  sovereignty. 
And  the  chief  agent  of  this  result  will  be  seen  to  be  the 
barbarous,  exterminating,  almost  endless  warfare  of  these 
early  centuries.  Out  of  these  rugged  furrows  of  bloody 
war  has  blown  the  consummate  flower  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion, whose  fruitage-time  must  still  be  placed  in  the  cen- 
turies which  are  to  come. 

At  this  period,  the  king  could  levy  no  tax  without  the 
grant  of  Parliament ;  no  law  could  be  promulgated  without 
its  assent,  no  man  could  be  committed  to  prison  but  by 
legal  warrant,  the  fact  of  guilt  or  innocence  was  deter- 
mined by  a  public  court  with  a  jury  of  twelve  men,  and 
the  oflB-cers  and  servants  of  the  crown  were  subject  to  the 
same  tribunal ;  and,  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  pre- 
vious, the  kings  of  England  had  desisted  from  imposing 
taxes  without  consent  of  Parliament. 

That  which  was  at  last  coming  to  fruition  was  the  share 
of  the  governed  in  the  policy  of  the  government.  True,  it 
was  a  sadly  crippled  share.  Only  within  the  present  decade 
has  the  agriculturist  laborer  of  England  taken  a  direct  part 
in  the  composition  of  Parliament.     But,  all  through  these 


96  The  Evolutlo7i  of  the  State. 

pregnant  centuries,  the  man's  tone  has  been  heard.  It  has 
pushed  its  way  through  tumbling  dynasties,  midst  the  ruins 
of  baronial  castles  and  the  falling  fortunes  of  kings  and 
emperors,  impelled  by  the  irresistible  laws  of  evolution. 
It  has  announced,  with  increasing  force  and  fervor,  one 
inevitable  condition  of  national  and  individual  growth  to 
be  the  absolute,  unqualified  equality  of  individual  human 
rights. 

Much  as  this  early  recognition  of  the  voice  of  the  indi- 
vidual man  may  have  been  smothered  by  the  usurpations 
of  power  during  the  succeeding  centuries,  it  is  a  note- 
worthy fact  that,  long  before  the  discovery  of  this  conti- 
nent within  which  representative  government  is  supposed  to 
have  found  its  completest  development,  manhood,  as  the 
essential  unit  of  the  State,  was  finding  place  in  the 
thoughts  of  the  world's  statesmen. 

Long  after  this,  the  English  corporation  (evolved,  as  has 
been  suggested,  from  the. Roman  Collegia,  out  of  which,  in 
time,  as  Professor  Bryce,  in  his  remarkable  book  on  the 
American  Commonwealth,  has  shown,  was  to  arise  first  the 
Colonial  government,  then  the  State  government,  then  the 
Federal  government,  each  in  its  turn  an  outgrowth  of  the 
other)  was  to  prefigure  the  growth  as  distinguished  from 
the  drift  of  a  State.  Here,  in  the  new  land,  with  a  diver- 
sified climate  and  soil,  untrammeled  by  questions  of  the 
relations  of  ancient  sovereignties,  freed  from  the  dominion 
of  the  one  man  power,  was  to  be  formulated  the  first  writ- 
ten constitution  known  to  man.  And  singularly  enough, 
it  was  to  find  its  substantial  prototype,  not  in  the  long  line 
of  its  immediate  ancestry,  but  in  the  polity  of  ancient 
Greece,  where,  long  before  the  white-haired  Goth  had 
invaded  and  subdued  the  swarthy  Koman,  the  assembly  of 
the  citizens  determined  important  public  questions,  and 
was  the  ultimate  tribunal  of  the  governed.  And  stranger 
yet,  it  was  to  promulgate  in  solemn  terms,  in  its  new  code, 
the  same  paradox  wliich  had  then  existed  in  the  streets  of 
Athens, —  proclaiming,  with  one  breath,  the  equality  of  all 
men  before  the  law,  and  insisting,  in  the  next,  upon  the 
degradation  and  enslavement  of  a  substantial  minority  of 
mankind. 

And  now,  may  we  not  see  that  the  State  has  evolved  by 
the  same  processes  and  under  the  same  conditions  as  those 
by  means  of    which  civilization  itself    has  grown?     One 


The  Evolution  of  the  State.  97 

most  important  fact  to  be  noted  is,  that  the  most  signal 
advances  made  by  civilization  have  taken  place  within  the 
present  centnry.  Dr.  Strong,  in  his  Avidely  read  book  on 
our  country,  has  said  that,  ''  any  one  as  old  as  the  nine- 
teenth century  has  seen  a  very  large  proportion  of  all  the 
progress  in  civilization  made  by  the  race."  And  Andrew 
Carnegie,  in  his  glowing  laudation  of  what  he  calls  the 
"  Triumphant  Democracy,"  asserts  that  "  a  hundred  years 
ago,  agriculture  was  in  little  better  condition  all  over  the 
world  than  it  was  a  thousand  years  before." 

Taking,  then,  our  American  Commonwealth  as,  at  its 
birth,  expressing  the  highest  type  to  which  the  State  had 
then  evolved,  upon  what  shall  we  find  its  growth  to  have 
depended  ?  Behind  it  lay  the  ancient  oligarchies,  and  the 
so-called  republics  of  Greece,  the  rise  and  temporary  spread 
of  Christianity,  the  darkness  of  the  middle  centuries, 
shrouding  with  obscurity  all  rights  of  man,  all  lights  of 
learning,  and  all  hopes  of  religion ;  the  revival  of  brutal 
wars  of  conquest ;  age  upon  age  of  slaughtered  human 
life,  the  masses  held  in  s'lavery  and  ignorance ;  and  at  last 
the  gradual  dawning  of  an  uplifting  sense  of  the  dignity 
of  man.  DeLolme  had  just  given  to  the  world  his  classic 
panegyric  of  the  English  government  when  the  first  Presi- 
dent of  our  republic  took  the  oath  of  office.  "  Liberty," 
said  DeLolme,  in  his  concluding  chapter,  "  merely  showed 
herself  to  the  ingenious  nations  of  antiquity  who  inhab- 
ited the  South  of  Europe,  and  she  has  found  six  centuries 
necessary  for  the  completion  of  her  work."  Yet  wlren 
these  glowing  words  were  written,  trial  by  personal  contest 
had  not  been  abolished,  and  no  person  accused  of  crime 
was  allowed  counsel  in  the  English  Courts. 

Our  republic,  at  its  birth,  stood  in  all  essential  respects 
for  government  by  the  governed.  More  nearly,  then,  per- 
haps, than  at  any  time  since,  the  wish  of  Thomas  Carlyle 
was  realized,  and  the  individual  citizen  was  weighed  as 
well  as  counted ;  and  to  this  end  no  single  factor  had  more 
largely  contributed  than  the  town-meeting  of  New  England. 
The  one  fundamental  postulate  upon  which  rested  the 
theory  of  the  State,  at  that  time,  may  be  said  to  be  the 
right  of  personal  representation.  Prof.  Stubbs  has  shown 
that,  "as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
the  doctrine  that  the  taxpayer  should  have  a  voice  in  the 
bestowal  of   the  tax,  was  gaining  ground,  but  it  required 


98  The  Evolution  of  the  State. 

live  hundred  years  for  its  full  recognition."  Prof.  Howard, 
in  his  recent  book  on  the  Local  Constitutional  History  of 
the  United  States,  has  pointed  out  that  "  the  revival  of  the 
primitive  village  community  in  the  New  England  towns 
was  a  revival  of  organs  and  functions  on  the  recurrence  of 
the  primitive  environment,"  and  that  "  the  selectmen  of  the 
town  were  the  lowest  representative  government "  ;  and  it 
is  obvious  that  the  moment  our  early  communities  began 
to  prosper  and  extend  their  conquest  over  nature,  the  act 
of  government  had  to  be  delegated.  Townsmen  were 
therefore  chosen  in  New  Haven,  as  long  ago  as  1651,  in 
order  that,  in  the  words  of  their  quaint  resokition,  "the 
town  meetings  which  spend  the  town  much  time,  may  not 
bee  so  often,"  and,  ten  years  before,  voting  by  proxy  had 
been  established  in  Massachusetts. 

More  than  one  hundred  years  thereafter,  the  first  written 
constitution  known  to  history,  adopted  by  the  people,  was 
put  in  practice  in  Virginia;  and  thirteen  years  after  this 
event,  the  Constitution  under  which  we  live,  which  Glad- 
stone has  pronounced  one  of  the  greatest  products  of  the 
human  intellect,  went  into  eifect  as  the  express  charter 
of  the  State.  Representative  governments,  then,  had  made 
possible  the  founding  of  our  own  State ;  and  this,  the  first 
of  rigid  constitutions,  was  absolutely  representative  in  all 
its  parts.  The  sovereignty  of  the  States  was  represented 
in  its  Senate.  The  people  were  directly  represented  in  its 
House  of  Representatives,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  government,  the  department  of  Justice  was 
given  power  to  pass  upon  the  validity  of  laws  passed  by 
these  representative  bodies. 

Clearly,  the  State  which  we  are  now  describing  had 
evolved  from  all  the  attempts  at  government  in  the  past; 
and  the  one  law  of  growth  which  is  apparent  in  any  broad 
survey  of  its  evolution  is  that  the  State  became  effective  in 
exact  proportion  as  it  recognized  the  individual  dignity  of 
its  citizenship.  The  one  inseparable  accompaniment  and 
evidence  of  the  evolution  of  the  State  has  been  the  con- 
tinual uplifting  and  expansion  of  manhood  as  a  type.  This 
has  been  and  is  the  supreme  result  and  test  of  State 
growth.  "A  government  is  to  be  judged,"  says  John 
Stuart  Mill,  "by  its  tendency  to  improve  tlie  people,  and 
by  the  goodness  or  badness  of  the  work  it  performs  for 
them."     By  manhood  as  a  type,  I  mean  the  average  being 


The  Evohitiou  of  the  State.  99 

taken  from  the  aggregate  of  every  race  and  every  clime,  in 
every  country  of  the  world.  Marcus  Aurelius,  standing  at 
the  threshold  of  the  Christian  era,  looking  forward  seven- 
teen centuries  in  the  history  of  his  race,  said,  "mankind 
are  under  one  common  law,  and  if  so,  they  must  be  fellow- 
citizens  and  belong  to  the  same  body  politic.  From  whence 
it  will  follow  that  the  whole  world  is  but  one  common- 
wealth." 

Now,  whatever  may  be  said  of  ancient  republics,  of 
special  reigns  of  special  kings,  the  candid  mind  must  see 
that  the  voice  of  this  average  man  was  heard  loudest,  and 
with  more  effect,  in  this  new  commonwealth,  than  it  had 
elsewhere  been  heard  in  the  history  of  the  world.  And  it 
was  listened  to.  From  the  time  of  the  establishment  of 
Christianity,  the  voice  of  the  priest  has  been  substituted 
for  that  of  man.  The  darkness  of  the  middle  centuries, 
and  the  clanging  swords  of  war,  had  stifled  this  power  of 
protest ;  but  the  invention  of  printing  gave  an  audience  to 
the  average  man;  the  compounding  of  gunpowder  short- 
ened, by  making  more  fatal,  the  wars  of  conquest ;  and 
out  of  this  progression  of  the  arts  and  sciences  emerged 
the  man,  to  be  accounted  for  in  future  governments.  Here, 
in  his  new  environment,  free  from  misalliance  with  the 
church,  disturbed  by  no  questions  of  State  boundaries  and 
perplexing  balances  of  power,  the  new  man  founded  the 
new  State,  and,  in  token  of  his  different  status  in  the  new 
world,  he  was  given  the  ballot  as  his  scepter. 

What  the  evolutionist  has  to  observe,  is,  that  the  organic 
law,  under  which  the  great  republic  started  upon  its  career, 
contained  no  new  conception  of  human  rights.  Government 
by  the  governed  was  as  old  as  Aristotle.  It  was  the  dream 
of  Plato.  At  no  time  in  known  history  had  it  been  absent 
from  the  thoughts  of  men.  It  had  simply  waited  for  its 
fitting  environment.  Like  the  grain-seed  in  the  mummy's 
wrappings,  it  throve  at  once  when  placed  in  proper  soil 
and  stimulated  by  a  congenial  climate.  A  most  emphatic 
exposition  of  what  an  ill-adapted  soil  and  an  unfavorable 
climate  would  do  for  a  similar  endeavor  was  to  be  imme- 
diately furnished,  in  the  abortive  attempt,  in  France,  to 
establish,  on  a  like  theory  of  government,  a  permanent 
republic.  As  Prof.  Adams  has  suggested  in  his  work  on 
"  The  Democracy  and  Monarchy  of  France,"  Rousseau  had 
indeed  overstated  the  problem  of  a  perfect  form  of  govern- 


100  The  Evolution  of  the  State. 

inent,  when  he  declared  it  to  be  "to  find  a  form  of  society 
in  which  each  one,  uniting  himself  with  the  whole,  shall 
yet  obey  himself  and  remain  as  free  as  before."  Yet  no 
student  of  the  French  Revolution  can  fail  to  find  sufficient 
causes  for  its  failure  in  the  essential  limitations  of  its 
environment. 

Here,  then,  was  a  serious  challenge  to  posterity.  Black- 
stone  had  but  just  proclaimed  that  the  natural  foundations 
of  fovereignty  were  "wisdom  to  discern  the  real  interest 
of  the  community,  goodness  to  endeavor  always  to  pursue 
that  real  interest,  and  strength  or  power  to  carry  this 
knowledge  and  intention  into  action."  The  edict  of  the 
new  republic  set  forth  that  all  these  natural  foundations 
of  sovereignty  were  inherent  in  the  common  citizen. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the  development  of  this 
new  republic.  Happily  we  may  do  so  from  the  standpoint 
of  a  full  century's  experience.  In  seeking  for  the  causes 
of  what  we  shall  find  as  its  fruition,  one  of  the  lirst  mis- 
takes will  doubtless  be  to  attribute  to  the  agency  of  the 
Constitution,  itself,  far  more  than  can  be  justly  claimed 
for  it.  With  a  favoring  climate,  a  virgin  soil,  freedom 
from  intestine  broils,  and  from  foreign  wars  either  of  con- 
quest or  of  defence  —  a  sturdy  race  of  men,  filled  Avith  the 
unconquerable  resolution  which  characterized  our  early 
immigrants,  would  perhaps  have  given  an  impetus  to  our 
Western  civilization  which  no  mere  form  of  government 
would  have  withstood  or  hindered. 

Again,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  this  sacred  instru- 
ment was  itself  a  patchwork  of  concessions,  holding  within 
its  terms  a  flat  denial  of  the  absolute  rights  of  men,  and 
made  possible  as  the  organic  law  only  by  the  surrender  of 
convictions  which  were  not  lightly  held  by  the  States  of 
New  York  and  llhode  Island,  which  were  among  the  last 
to  adopt  it.  Indeed,  the  question  is  now  very  seriously, 
and  with  great  force,  raised,  whether  we  shall  be  able 
effectually  to  deal  with  evils  which  are  manifestly  grave, 
until  we  shall  have  deliberately  revised  this  great  Charter 
of  our  liberty. 

Among  the  recent  contributions  to  the  literature  of  states- 
manship, one  of  the  strongest  in  its  statement  and  in  the 
admirable  temper  of  its  pages  is  a  small  work  on  True  Dem- 
ocratic Government,  written  a  few  years  ago  by  Albert 
Stickney.     After  setting  forth  the  advantages  of  a  Demo- 


The  Evolution  of  the  State.  101 

cratic  Government,  he  argues  with  great  cogency  that  we 
need  to  reorganize  our  organic  law,  and  that  a  Convention 
should  be  called  to  that  end.  Whatever  may  be  said  of 
the  perfect  character  of  the  work  of  our  fathers,  they 
themselves  were  not  so  vain-glorious  as  not  to  provide,  in 
the  terms  of  the  instrument  they  presented  for  adoption, 
the  process  of  amendment.  And,  although  it  is  probably 
true,  as  Von  Hoist  has  declared  in  his  history  of  Consti- 
tutional Law,  that  <'the  republic  has  been  more  conserva- 
tive in  its  fundamental  law  than  any  State  whatever  of  the 
European  Constitution,"  yet  it  must  be  conceded  that  if  we 
cannot,  as  a  people,  be  trusted  to  sit  in  deliberation  upon 
what  the  organic  law  of  our  nation  should  be,  then  we  have 
already  demonstrated  the  failure  of  a  republican  or  demo- 
cratic form  of  government.  Furthermore,  if  we  are  candid 
with  ourselves,  we  must  see  that,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
great  evils  have  arisen  in  government,  which  are  due  either 
to  an  inadequate  organic  law  or  to  an  imperfect  adminis- 
tration of  that  law. 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  consider  one  of  the  most 
obvious  of  these.  I  refer  to  the  conspicuous  incapacity  of 
any  present  mode  of  city  government.  No  demonstration 
of  this  fact  is  needed.  The  public  till  is  deemed  by  many 
to  be  a  legitimate  field  for  plunder.  Its  guardians  have  a 
market  price.  There  is  no  municipal  legislature  in  any 
considerable  city  of  the  Union,  the  character  of  whose 
working  majority  of  membership  is  such  as  to  command 
any  large  degree  of  confidence  in  either  its  integrity,  indus- 
try or  intelligence.  The  important  franchises  of  our  cities 
are  hawked  about  in  undiscovered  places  to  the  holders  of 
the  largest  purses.  Public  interests  lie  dormant;  private 
interests  are  ram/pant.  Public  office  is  made  to  produce  the 
largest  results  to  the  smallest  number.  Men  Avith  polished 
exterior  insist  that  they  must  make  terms  with  what  are 
called  the  "practical  politicians,"  or  else  we  shall  accom- 
plish nothing  at  all;  and  so  the  dispensers  of  patronage 
quietly  place  good  men  where  they  will  do  the  least  harm, 
and  deliver  the  most  important  interests  of  the  city  to  men 
who  market  their  opportunity  to  the  best  personal  advan- 
tage. 

The  representation  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  the  last 
legislature  is  a  frightful  example  of  incapacity  and  corruji- 
tion;  —  and  what  else  could  be  expected  when  we  find  that 


102  The  Evolution  of  the  State. 

one-third  of  its  entire  delegation  were  born  outside  the 
country  whose  important  interests  they  were  called  upon 
to  serve  ?  So  rank  have  these  conditions  become  that  they 
are  attracting  the  attention  of  statesmen  everywhere.  So 
able  and  impartial  an  observer  as  Mr.  Bryce  has  found  it 
necessary  to  say,  "  There  is  no  denying  that  the  government 
of  cities  is  the  one  conspicuous  failure  of  the  United 
States."  Nor  is  this  failure  of  minor  importance.  When 
our  constitution  was  framed,  there  were  but  thirteen  cities 
whose  population  exceeded  5000,  and  but  one  with  more 
than  40,000  inhabitants.  To-day  there  are  thirty  exceed- 
ing 100,000,  and  two  exceeding  1,000,000.  Ninety-seven 
per  cent,  of  the  population  for  which  our  fathers  provided  a 
scheme  of  government,  lived  outside  the  city  limits ;  to-day 
less  than  seventy -eight  per  cent,  inhabit  the  country. 

Within  that  time,  space  has  been  nearly  annihilated ; 
and  communication  is  almost  uninterrupted.  A  great 
thought  uttered  at  any  center  of  the  world  instantly 
vibrates  throughout  Christendom.  The  rapid  acquisition 
of  surplus  wealth  fills  the  streets  of  the  metropolis,  and 
the  trend  of  all  things,  in  densely  populated  centers,  is 
daily  seen  to  be  more  and  more  toward  complexity.  This, 
with  a  constantly  changing  environment,  engenders  problems 
of  which  the  franiers  of  our  Constitution  never  dreamed. 
Is  it  strange  that  the  machinery  should  need  to  be  readapted 
to  its  new  task  ? 

But,  it  may  be  said,  If  the  people  are  competent  to  govern ; 
if,  by  the  process  of  a  natural  evolution,  the  supreme  power 
has  been  rationally  devolved  upon  the  entire  citizenship, 
why  is  not  an  efficient  appeal  made  to  that  original  source 
of  power .^  Are  we  not  justified,  by  the  experience  of  the 
last  twenty  years,  in  replying  that,  while  exceptional 
spasms  of  reform  have  here  and  there  worked  tenij)oniry 
relief  from  especially  aggravating  epochs  of  corru})tion, 
yet  the  people  have  really  delegated  their  franchise  to  the 
active  leaders  of  the  two  great  political  parties  ?  My 
meaning  is,  that  neither  any  one,  nor  any  thousand,  nor 
any  twenty  thousand  citizens  of  any  considerable  city,  can, 
under  existing  machinery,  do  anything  other  than  express 
a  preference  at  the  polls.  ]>ut  the  ballot  was  given,  at  its 
origin,  as  a  means  of  choosing  from  many,  and  not  simply 
of  ])referring.  Exactly  stated,  the  government  of  this  and 
most  of  our  cities  is  in  the  absolute  control  of    a  limited 


The  Evolution  of  the  State.  103 

number  of  men  in  both  political  parties,  and  any  reason- 
ably well-informed  politician  of  either  party  would  be  com- 
petent to  make  up  a  list  of  less  than  fifty  "  wheel-horses  " 
in  politics,  whose  favor  would  insure  his  elevation  to  any 
office  in  the  municipality.  These  constitute  a  political 
oligarchy,  who  furnish  us  with  as  poor  a  government  as 
they  dare  to  do. 

Such  is  party  municipal  government,  which  is  rightly 
said  by  Mr.  Stickney,  in  his  latest  volume  on  ''  The  Political 
Problem,"  to  mean,  "  Government  by  organized  bodies  of 
professional  electioneering  agents,  who  betake  themselves 
to  the  work  of  carrying  elections  because  it  pays ;  who  are 
compelled  by  the  force  of  circumstances  to  make  it  pay, 
and  who  will  continue  so  to  do  just  so  long  as  the  work  is 
so  vast,  so  regular  and  has  such  large  prizes." 

What  then  are  we  to  conclude  ?  That  in  an  age  when 
rapid  advances  are  being  made  in  all  departments  of  human 
endeavor,  when  science  and  invention  and  all  forms  of 
achievement  are  striding  rapidly  forward,  the  State  is  lag- 
ging in  the  race  ?  Quite  possibly  this  is  true.  Having 
delegated  our  right  of  choice,  as  has  been  suggested,  to  the 
politicians,  we  have  reached  an  epoch  in  the  evolution  of 
the  State  when  the  art  and  science  of  government  are  left 
in  abeyance,  and  the  best  thought  and  effort  of  our  time 
are  given  to  other  pursuits. 

One  evidence  of  this  is  to  be  found,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
in  the  observation  that,  among  civilized  peoples,  the  rights 
of  person  and  property,  which  are  essential  tests  of  govern- 
mental efficiency,  are  not  largely  affected  by  particular 
forms  of  government.  At  any  rate,  an  unprejudiced  view 
of  the  conditions  of  society  as  determined  by  institutional 
forms  in  England  and  the  United  States  would  not,  as  I 
think,  disclose  such  serious  discrepancies  as  might  be  sup- 
posed to  exist.  It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  citizen 
of  Toronto,  Canada,  is  not  quite  as  comfortably  governed  as 
the  citizen  of  Brooklyn ;  and  among  civilized  communities, 
the  advantages  of  discoveries  and  inventions  in  science  and 
art  have  been  quite  as  efficiently  availed  of  in  one  as  in 
another  form  of  liberal  government.  "Obedience  is  what 
makes  government,"  says  Edmund  Burke,  and  "not  the 
names  by  which  it  is  called."  Even  in  the  ideal  govern- 
ments, many  limitations  were  set  up  which  this  enlight- 
ened age  would  instantly  disallow.     In   More's  Utopia,  it 


104  The  Evolution  of  the  State. 

was  death  to  talk  about  the  government ;  while,  in  our 
modern  England  and  America,  it  is  almost  criminal,  during 
a  certain  portion  of  any  year,  to  talk  about  anything  else. 
In  Plato's  Republic,  citizens  were  to  be  punished  if  they 
attem])ted  to  concern  themselves  with  trade.  In  these 
days  of  the  actual  republic,  a  vast  number  of  ov;r  citizens 
lind  little  concern  in  anything  else. 

How,  then,  briefly  stated,  has  the  State  evolved  ?  Begin- 
ning with  the  surrender  of  individual  indulgence  to  the 
welfare  of  the  associated  family  group;  rising  to  tribal 
importance  by  the  kinship-line  of  demarcation  ;  increasing 
tlic  numbers  of  the  gens  by  the  supremacy  of  conquest 
find  by  adoption;  the  heads  of  important  tribes  choosing 
])etty  kings,  and  themselves,  in  turn,  constituting  an  aris- 
tocracy of  nobles ;  the  sui)reme  head  and  these  allied 
nobles  seeking,  in  turn,  one  against  the  other,  the  alliance 
of  the  masses,  and,  as  a  consequence,  conceding  to  the 
average  man  important  recognition ;  the  average  man  him- 
self finally  over-topping  both  kings  and  nobles,  his  speech 
attended  to,  his  thovight  made  free,  his  needs  becoming  the 
ultimate  end  of  government. 

Have  we  not  thus  epitomized  the  complete  analogue  of 
all  that  we  know  of  evolution  ?  Government  changes  from 
snudl  to  greater  numbers,  developing,  as  it  advances,  great 
complexity  of  problems.  Out  of  the  hot  crucible  of  war 
the  fittest  form  of  government  survives  and  thrives.  Deep 
in  the  still  currents  of  the  early  centuries,  the  seed-germ 
of  average  humanity  quietly  awaited  its  favorable  environ- 
ment, occasionally  seeking  the  upper  sky  of  active  being 
during  some  spasmodic  ei)isode  of  war,  then  being  closed 
u])on  l)y  inauspicious  times  until  the  fitting  surroundings 
for  its  healthy  growth  are  furnished  it  by  the  inexorable 
logic  of  events.  And  having  thus  imperfectly  demonstrated 
tlie  morphology  of  the  State,  we  are  brought  to  our  con- 
cluding itupiiry. 

AVliat  final  form  Avill  the  State  assume,  when  under  the 
full  control  of  the  principles  of  Evolution?  Truly  this  is 
an  ambitious  question.  Some  light  niight  be  thrown  upon 
the  j)roblem,  if  we  could  be  quite  certain  of  the  ultimate 
scope  of  governments. 

Two  theories  are  current  concerning  the  true  functions 
of  the  State.  One  is,  that  it  fulfills  its  office  completely 
when  it  secures  to  the  individual  absolute  justice  —  mean- 


The  Evolution  of  the  State.  105 

ing,  thereby,  the  opportunity  to  exercise,  to  their  full  bent, 
all  the  faculties  with  which  he  is  endowed.  Another  is, 
that  the  State  should  directly  supply  to  the  individiial  that 
which,  by  reason  of  congenital  defect  or  unfavorable  envi- 
ronment, he  may  stand  in  need  of. 

The  disciples  of  the  first  theory  would  limit  to  the  nar- 
rowest extent  the  subjects  of  governmental  control.  They 
would  leave  to  individuals,  or  private  combinations  of  such, 
the  prosecution  and  development  of  all  enterprises  which 
do  not  involve  the  liberty  of  the  person  or  the  right  of 
property.  It  is  enough,  say  they,  that  the  State  secures 
the  highway  for  its  people  to  walk  in ;  let  it  not  be  encum- 
bered by  even  the  postal-wagons  of  the  nation.  It  is  the 
old  doctrine  of  laissez-faire,  and  is  postulated  upon  the 
aphorism  that  ''all  a  man  wants  is  a  fair  chance." 

The  paternal  theory,  on  the  other  hand,  insists  that  the 
strength  of  all  is  pledged  to  the  assistance  of  those  who 
need  it ;  that  what  may  be  well  done  and  with  much  saving 
of  effort  by  the  general  community  for  all,  is  within  the 
true  scope  of  governmental  function ;  that  all  the  cardinal 
necessities  of  existence,  such  as  light,  heat,  education,  com- 
munication and  transportation,  not  to  say  food,  should  be 
undertaken  to  be  furnished  by  government ;  and  some  say, 
further,  that  the  entire  industrial  scheme  should  go  forward 
under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  State.  Among  the 
latter,  Mr.  Edward  Bellamy,  in  a  most  ingenious,  enter- 
taining and  plausible  manner,  has  set  forth  the  sublime 
satisfaction  of  "Looking  Backward"  from  the  twentieth 
century,  in  such  attractive  guise  that  a  society  has  already 
been  formed,  in  Boston,  the  natural  birth-place  of  soci- 
eties, to  further  the  practical  adoption  of  the  views  in  gen- 
eral outlined  by  him. 

Perhaps  these  two  views  may  be  briefly  defined  as 
Anarchistic  and  Socialistic.  Against  the  one  it  may  be  as- 
serted, that  it  leaves  without  provision  many  hard  conditions 
of  society ;  and  against  the  other,  that  it  reduces  to  inane, 
commonplace  existence  the  multiform  activities  of  life  as 
they  now  proceed.  Both,  doubtless,  have  in  view  the  highest 
happiness  of  mankind ;  and  whether  Ave  ask  to  what  has 
the  State  evolved,  or  what  final  form  will  the  State  assume 
under  the  full  control  of  the  principles  of  evolution,  these 
two  widely  diverging  views  of  the  State-function  suggest, 
with  force,  the  great  perplexities  of  the  question. 


106  The  Evolution  of  the  State. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  the  development  of  the  State  is 
but  the  evolution  of  associated  manhood.  It  finds  its  most 
faithful  prototype  in  the  growth  of  a  man.  An  infant  is 
lying  snug  in  the  cradle.  The  air  is  carefully  tempered  to 
its  feeble  powers.  It  breathes  the  environment  of  a  pure 
and  happy  household.  It  comes  to  youth  and  early  man- 
hood un vexed  by  any  sombre  view  of  nature,  or  the  world 
about  it.  From  within  as  from  without,  come  only  chaste 
thoughts  of  love  and  duty  and  the  genial  ways  of  sacred 
fellowship.  Manhood  is  still  attended  with  serene  sur- 
roundings. The  robust  work  of  active  life  is  carried  for- 
ward with  amazing  energy  and  success ;  the  Avindows  of 
the  man's  mature  reflection  are  never  shut  to  the  white- 
winged  messenger  of  honor,  truth  and  love.  His  life  is 
radiant  with  shining  deeds  of  helpfulness  to  others,  and, 
waking  or  sleeping,  no  evil  thoughts  intrude  upon  his  pres- 
ence. He  is  honest,  faithful,  kind,  affectionate  and  pure 
as  if  by  instinct.  And  when,  at  last,  he  falls  into  his  final 
slumber,  the  estimate  which  men  make  of  him  is  full  of 
credit  and  renown. 

What  is  it  that  has  made  this  man  what  he  is  ?  He  has 
walked  his  pleasant  way  of  life,  surrounded  by  the  same 
great  limitations  as  his  fellows.  For  him  no  special  stars 
have  shone,  no  different  sea  has  broken  on  the  shore,  no 
special  forests  waved  their  branches.  Yet,  to  the  making 
of  his  manhood,  have  contributed  all  the  events  of  all  the 
human  lives  which  have  preceded  him.  All  deeds  of  death- 
less valor,  all  stainless  lives  of  heroes  in  the  past,  all 
lowly  suffering  of  humble  men  and  women  in  the  poor 
places  of  the  world,  all  victories  and  achievements  of  the 
great  in  the  luxurious  halls  of  power,  the  joy  and  suffering 
of  the  rudest  inhabitants  of  an  African  jungle,  have  helped 
to  make  possible  for  him  this  perfect  human  life,  and  he 
has  inherited  all  i)recious  thoughts  of  all  noble  souls  that 
have  ever  lived. 

Now,  the  State  is  Init  the  outgrowth  of  all  human  devel- 
opment. To  its  present  condition,  all  the  men  and  women 
of  the  past  have  contributed.  Their  personal  gifts  and 
attainments,  their  individual  environments,  liave  entered 
into  and  shaped  the  structure  of  government  as  it  now 
exists.  If  then,  we  may  not  comprehend  the  subtle  influ- 
ences that  contrive  for  us  a  perfect  man,  how  shall  we  be 
able  to  determine  the  real  conditions  of  a  State  under  the 


The  Evolution  of  the  State.  107 

full  control  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution?  We  stand 
between  two  eternities.  Within  the  compass  of  the  past 
three  centuries,  most  of  the  elements  we  prize  to  day  in  the 
science  of  government  have  been  evolved.  Taking  the 
limit  of  man's  possession  of  the  earth  to  be  within  the 
period  demonstrated  to  us  by  Mr.  Sampson,  in  his  admirable 
lecture  on  "Primitive  Man,"  four  hundred  thousand  years 
were  necessary  to  the  human  race  before  the  earliest  form 
of  government  was  possible.  Who  shall  say  that  the  earth- 
dweller  of  a  million  years  to  come  shall  not  be  a  part  of 
some  great  system  of  government  ?  What  prophet  shall  be 
so  bold  as  to  outline  the  political  system  which  shall  then 
infold  the  earth  ?  The  conception  of  the  Universe  itself 
is  daily  widening.  Astronomers  are  piercing  farther  and 
farther  the  depths  behind  the  midnight  sky.  Geologists 
and  Archaeologists  are  digging  farther  and  farther  into  the 
heart  of  the  world  and  its  history.  The  boldest  explorer 
of  this  realm  which  is  to  be,  must  be  satisfied  with  what  he 
may  have  the  courage  to  say  is  the  tendency  of  things. 

Let  me  noAV  say,  however,  in  view  of  some  discouraging 
episodes  of  government,  that  have  been  referred  •  to,  that 
the  tendency,  to  my  mind,  is  forward,  not  backward;  up- 
ward, not  downward.  The  doctrine  of  evolution  is  of 
necessity  optimistic.  Growth  without  limit  means  contin- 
ual advance;  —  surging  and  re-surging,  like  the  tides  of 
the  ocean,  but  forging  forward  from  one  cycle  to  another. 
Physical  cataclysms  alone  excepted,  the  march  of  humanity 
is  to  be  perpetually  toward  the  light.  So  Jesus  preached, 
so  Plato  dreamed,  so  Milton  sang,  so  Luther  protested,  so 
Philip  Sydney  fought  and  died,  so  the  great  of  every  age 
and  clime  have  acted  and  spoken.  Tliis  is  the  vestal  fire  of 
all  the  ages,  which  has  been  perpetually  burning  in  the 
human  heart  —  Progress  and  Victory  for  the  human  soul. 

I  close  this  paper  with  the  suggestion  that,  at  some  time 
in  the  perhaps  far  distant  future,  the  State  will  have 
evolved  into  an  entity  of  purely  delegated,  as  distinguished 
from  representative,  powers.  Signs  are  not  wanting, 
already,  that  a  reversion  such  as  Mr.  Stickney  has  indicated 
to  the  primitive  meeting,  in  open  convention,  of  the  citi- 
zens of  a  limited  vicinage,  will  constitute  the  only  direct 
political  relation  of  the  governed  with  the  government. 

May  not  the  people  of  a  given  section  wisely  conclude 
that  it  is  safer  for  the  common  interest  to  delegate,  to  a 


108  The  Evolution  of  the  State. 

person  known  to  each  of  tlieni,  fairly  chosen  in  open  con- 
vention and  after  full  deliberation,  those  important  powers 
which  they  now  entrust  to  unknown  spoilsmen,  whose  only 
incentive  to  action  is  the  advancement  of  their  private 
interest,  and  who  have  neither  the  capacity  nor  the  inclina- 
tion to  further  the  public  good,  and  who,  therefore,  permit 
the  citizen,  for  instance,  to  bo  represented  in  Congress  by 
some  person  who  is  amenable,  not  as  the  Constitution 
designed,  to  the  people,  but  to  those  who  hold  the  power  to 
present  him  to  the  people  as  their  candidate  ? 

However  this  may  be,  the  State,  as  an  affirmative  factor 
of  evil  interference  with  the  man,  belongs  wholly  to  the 
past.  The  State  which  is  to  be  will  foster  every  personal 
right,  protect  every  avenue  of  personal  advancement, 
encourage  every  aspiration  for  personal  freedom.  It  will 
gather  to  itself  all  great  and  noble  thoughts,  because  it  will 
witness  the  elevation  of  the  common  man.  Into  its  com- 
plete formation  will  enter  all  lofty  contemplation  of  the 
highest  good  to  man.  To  its  constitution  all  classes  and 
conditions  of  mankind  will  contribute.  Every  noble  en- 
deavor, every  holy  instinct,  and  every  chivalric  deed  of  all 
the  past,  will  be  garnered  in  its  perfect  Statehood.  It  will 
be  tolerant  of  human  weakness,  it  will  be  helpful  to  human 
endeavor.  Truth  and  honor  will  find  in  it  an  altar.  Virtue 
will  find  it  a  shield,  and  vice  a  sword.  Speech  will  be 
given  audience  by  it.  Crime  will  be  disarmed  by  it.  Into 
it  will  flow  all  gracious  impulses,  out  of  it  will  come  all 
needful  courage ;  for  it  will  reach  its  perfection  at  a  time 
and  in  an  age  when  men  shall  be  exactly  what  they  seem, 
and  the  State  itself  shall  be  the  auspicious  symbol  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  LAW 


BY 

KUrUS    SHELDON 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "  Principles  of  Sociology";  Amos's"  Science  of  Law'* 
and  " Systematic  Yiew  of  the  Science  of  Jurisprudence";  Maine's 
"Ancient  Law,"  "Early  Law  and  Customs,"  and  "Popular  Gov- 
ernment"; Bagehot's  "Physics  and  Politics";  Coulange's  "An- 
cient City";  Pollock's  "History  of  the  Science  of  Politics,"  and 
"Essays  in  Ethics  and  Jurisprudence";  Lightwood's  "Nature  of 
Positive  Law";  Holland's  "Jurisprudence";  Morey's  "Roman 
Law";  Muirheads's  "Roman  Law"  (in  Ency.  Brit.);  Wharton's 
"Commentaries  on  American  Law,"  chaps.  L,  II.,  III. 

(110) 


THE    EVOLUTION    OF    LAW.* 


In  the  modern  State  there  are  two  kinds  of  law  ;  one 
made  by  the  legislature ;  the  other  by  the  judges.  Law 
made  by  the  legislature  is  called  statute  law ;  that  made 
by  the  judges  is  called  the  law  of  judicial  decision.  If 
a  man  agrees  to  serve  another  for  a  term  of  two  years,  he 
is  not  bound  unless  his  agreement  is  in  writing ;  because 
there  is  a  statute  to  that  effect.  But  if  he  agrees  for 
a  term  of  less  than  a  year  and  for  a  consideration,  it  is  a, 
valid  contract :  not  because  of  any  act  of  legislature,  but 
because,  long  ago,  in  England,  in  the  time  of  Stephen,  the 
spiritual  courts  held  that  a  man  was  bound  in  conscience 
by  his  engagement ;  afterwards,  the  temporal  courts  held 
that  he  was  bound  in  law,  and  have  so  continued  to  do  to 
this  day. 

Statute  law  includes  political,  public  and  private  law, 
the  law  of  procedure,  corporations  and  municipalities,  etc., 
and  a  part  of  what  is  called  Private  law,  which  has  to  do 
with  the  rights  and  obligations  of  individuals  in  the  or- 
dinary affairs  and  business  of  life. 

The  larger  part  of  the  rules  of  Private  law  is  made  by 
the  judges.  That  judges  make  law  is  not  explicitly  stated 
in  the  text-books.  In  fact  it  is  not  generally  admitted 
that  they  have  any  part  in  law-making ;  the  theory  being 
that  there  is  somewhere  a  store  of  ready-made  law,  con- 
sisting of  rules  and  precedents,  where  the  judges  somehow 
find  what  they  want  after  the  lawyers  have  searched  for  it 
in  vain,  and  then  expound  and  apply  it  with  plenty  of 
comment  and  obiter  dicta,  but  no  addition. 

Now,  it  often  happens  that,  if  any  determination  of 
right  or  liability  is  made,  it  must  be  made  by  the  Court. 
Consider  the  first  case  of  action  brought  against  a  parlor- 
car  company  for  loss  of  a  satchel  containing  jcAvelry  en- 
trusted to  the  porter  without  notice  of  contents.  Here 
the  Court  gives  judgment  in  a  case  which  differs  from  any 
to   be    found   in   the    reports ;    and  just  in  proportion  to 

*Coi'vuiGHT,  181)0,  by  James  H.  West. 


112  The    Evolution    of   Law. 

the  difference  of  the  circumstances  from  those  of  any 
previous  case,  is  the  amount  of  new  law  made.  Yet 
the  books  and  the  case-lawyer  would  have  us  believe  that 
this  decision  was  somehow  implicit  and  potential  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Court  in  a  case  tried  before  Lord  Holt 
in  1704,  in  which  the  plaintiff  brought  suit  against  the  de- 
fendant for  loss  occasioned  by  his  having  undertaken  to 
haul  and  deliver  a  cask  of  brandy  ;  which  he  did  with 
such  negligence  that  it  fell  out  of  the  cart  and  was  staved, 
so  that  the  brandy  was  spilt  upon  the  ground,  to  the  great 
loss  of  the  plaintiff. 

The  thorough-going  theory  of  the  law  of  judicial  de- 
cision is  that  a  rule  or  principle  is  somewhere  to  be  found 
in  reports  which  will  fit  the  facts  of  any  case  in  trial  and 
serve  as  a  precedent.  Yet,  as  Maine  says,  '■'■  the  moment 
^'tlie  judgment  has  been  rendered  and  reported,  we  slide 
^'  unconsciously  or  unavowedly  into  a  new  train  of  thought. 
"  We  noAv  admit  that  the  new  decision  has  modified  the 
''  law.  The  rules  applicable  have  —  to  use  the  very  in- 
^' accurate  expression  sometimes  employed  —  become  more 
^'  elastic.     In  fact  they  have  been  changed." 

The  growth  of  judicial  law  is  a  process  of  continuous 
adjustment  of  the  rules  of  previously  determined  law  to 
conditions  ever  varying.  As  gradually  and  slowly  as  the 
simple  means  of  transport  used  in  old  times  —  the  heavy 
wagon  dragged  through  many  miles  of  mud  —  develops 
into  the  long  train  of  cars  running  on  its  iron  track,  with 
all  the  attendant  complexity  of  commercial  incidents,  so, 
slowly  and  running  parallel  with  it,  taking  up  small  in- 
crements along  the  course  of  growing  commerce,  with 
some  help  from  legislation,  does  the  law  of  Carriers 
groAV  to  a  comprehensive  system  adequate  to  the  needs  of 
a  complex  civilization. 

And  so  each  part  of  the  law  rapidly  increases,  following 
civilization  as  it  advances,  until  at  last  the  total  becomes  a 
vast  bulk  of  judge-made  laws ;  eacli  part  very  great,  the 
Avhole  enormous ;  recorded  in  8,000  volumes  of  reports, 
the  despair  of  lawyer  and  legislator ;  tlie  result  of  the 
progressive  deduction  of  rules  and  principles  by  a  process  of 
distinguishing,  by  small  variation,  variations  from  previous 
cases,  similar,  but  not  identical ;  so  that  when  a  decision  is 
made,  some  increment  is  added  to  the  body  of  the  law,  or  sub- 
stitution of  new  for  old  is  made,  even  to  such  a  degree  that 


The    Evolution    of   Laic.  118 

at  last,  by  the  slow  process  of  distinguishing,  old  law 
is   reversed. 

I  find  no  better  illustration  of  the  growth  of  law  by 
variation  dependent  on  changing  conditions,  than  the  words 
of  Coleridge,  C.  J.,  in  his  charge  to  the  jury  in  a  case  of 
blasphen^  :  "  Gentlemen,  you  have  heard  with  truth  that 
these  things  are,  according  to  the  old  law,  —  if  the  dicta 
of  old  judges,  dicta  often  not  necessary  for  the  decisions, 
are  to  be  t^ken  as  of  absolute  and  unqualified  authority,  — 
that  these  things,  I  say,  are  undoubtedly  blasphemous 
libels,  simply  because  they  question  tlie  truth  of  Christi- 
anity. But  these  dicta  cannot  be  taken  to  be  the  true  state- 
ment of  the  law,  as  the  law  is  now.  It  is  no  longer  true, 
in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  when  these  dicta  were  uttered, 
that  Christianity  is  the  law  of  the  land.  Therefore  to  base 
the  prosecution  of  a  bare  denial  of  the  truth  of  Christi- 
anity simpliciter  et  per  se  on  the  ground  that  Christianity  is 
a  part  of  the  law  of  the  land  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was 
said  to  be  so  by  Lord  Hale  and  Lord  Raymond  and  Lord 
Tenterden,  is  in  my  judgment  a  mistake.  It  is  to  forget 
that  law  grows  ;  and  that,  though  the  principles  of  law  re- 
main unchanged,  yet  (and  it  is  one  of  the  advantages  of 
the  common  law  ),  their  application  is  to  be  changed  with 
the  changing  circumstances  of  the  times.  Some  persons 
may  call  this  retrogression,  I  call  it  progression,  of  human 
opinion." 

Law  begins  when  a  dispute  between  two,  about  right  or 
duty,  is  settled  by  a  third  person,  instead  of  being  deter- 
mined by  the  superior  strength  or  skill  of  one  of  the  dis- 
jmtants,  —  the  third  party  having  authority  to  enforce  the 
decision.  In  primitive  times  this  authority  rested  some- 
times in  the  tribe,  sometimes,  as  in  the  Homeric  era,  in  the 
assembly  of  warriors ;  in  early  English  history,  in  the 
hundred ;  in  a  higher  phase  of  civilization,  in  the  State. 
Probably  no  check  is  at  first  put  upon  the  liberty  of  the 
individual  to  make  reprisals  or  take  vengeance  ;  robbery 
for  robbery,  theft  for  theft,  killing  for  killing,  is  as  natural 
as  with  animals  :  but  when  at  last  it  works  in  upon  the 
slow  perception  of  the  members  of  a  tribe,  that  indi- 
vidual security  depends  upon  tribal  integrity,  some  re- 
straint is  put  on  the  liberty  of  individuals  to  settle  their 
quarrels  ad  libituvi,  and  the  parties  are  compelled  to  submit 
to  some  kind  of  arbitration.     It  is  likely  that,  at  first,  ref- 


114  The    Evolution    of    Law. 

erence  to  arbitration  was  voluntary,  —  to  a  by-stander. 
Next,  the  arbitrator  was  some  man  in  authority,  priest  or 
magistrate ;  possibly,  in  important  cases,  the  chief  or 
patriarch ;  obedience  being  still  voluntary,  but  likely  to 
be  enforced  by  force  of  public  opinion — the  life  of  early 
as  well  as  of  advanced  law.  The  next  step  occurs  when 
the  tribe  or  State  assumes  jurisdiction  to  the  extent  of 
giving  the  plaintiff  power  to  compel  the  defendant  to 
come  before  a  magistrate  for  settlement  of  the  dispute. 

The  most  ancient  legal  proceeding  of  which  we  have 
record  gives  strong  support  to  the  theory  that  this  was  the 
first  stage  in  the  growth  of  law.  This  was  the  Legis 
Actio  Sacramenti,  the  source  and  pattern  of  all  later  actions 
in  Roman  and  Continental  and  old  English  law.  The  trial 
began  with  the  bringing  of  the  slave  or  property  in  dis- 
pute into  court.  Then  began  a  feigned  combat,  which  is 
thus  described  by  Gains  : 

"  The  claimant  held  a  wand,  and,  grasping  the  slave  or 
thing  over  which  he  claimed  dominion,  said :  <  This  man 
I  claim  as  owner,  by  the  law  of  the  Quirites,  according  to 
the  reason  that  I  have  stated.  Thus  upon  him  I  lay  my 
lance.'  The  adversary  then  repeated  the  same  formula, 
and  touched  the  property  with  a  wand  which  represented 
his  spear.  This  process  was  called  the  hand-grapple,  and 
symbolized  a  fight  for  possession.  The  magistrate,  repre- 
senting the  State,  ordered  tliem  to  loose  their  hold.  Then 
each  challenged  the  other  to  stake  a  sum  of  money  on  the 
truth  of  his  assertion.  The  wager  accepted,  issue  was 
joined,  and  the  money  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  mag- 
istrate as  a  compensation  for  rendering  judgment." 

In  some  such  rough  way  as  this  the  plaintiff  compelled 
his  adversary  to  come  into  court  to  have  justice  done  as 
fitted  the  times.  This  getting  a  man  into  court  was  the 
most  important  part  of  ancient  law,  as  is  witnessed  by  the 
fact  that  the  early  codes  give  first  place  and  great  space 
to  the  law  of  procedure.  When  the  parties  are  in  court, 
the  magistrate  must  pronounce  judgment  according  to  law 
—  that  is,  he  must  determine  rights  and  duties  by  applica- 
tion of  some  rule  or  principle.  These  rules  and  principles 
are  the  substance  of  the  law,  the  reason  and  excuse  Avhich 
justify  the  interference  of  the  public  with  the  will  of  the 
individual. 

The  first  appearance  of   substantive  law  is  as  custom, 


The    Evolution    of   Law.  115 

sanctioned  and  enforced  by  an  authority  which  is  sovereign. 
There  are  two  stages  in  its  development  —  1st,  the  growth 
of  custom,  and,  2d,  its  sanction  by  the  sovereign,  whether 
assembly,  tribe  or  king. 

It  is  true  that  Maine  and  the  German  school  do  not 
regard  compulsion  as  a  necessary  element  of  the  primitive 
customary  law.  But  their  arguments  seem  to  go  no  further 
than  to  prove  that  ancient  customs  become  habitual  to  such 
a  degree  that  they  become  constant  factors  of  action.  This 
constancy  is  due  to  a  conservative  spirit  and  an  apathy  of 
thought  which  belong  to  a  time  when  status  is  the  prevail- 
ing condition  of  men.  But  unless  personal  will  is  somehow 
limited  there  is  no  Law  in  the  legal  sense ;  in  this  essay  at 
least  law  connotes  compulsion.  It  is  just  when  the  individual 
will  begins  to  act  in  some  way  that  conflicts  with  custom, 
that  law  begins.  As  long  as  pure  passive  custom  reigns 
there  is  no  law  —  for  instinctive  action  does  not  lie  in  the 
province  of  will. 

Just  outside  of  the  land  held  in  common  by  the  most 
primitive  and  rudimentary  of  States,  —  the  village  com- 
munity,—  in  the  wilderness,  there  is  a  spring  of  water. 
A  path  leads  to  it,  used  for  time  out  of  mind  by  every 
man  in  the  community.  It  happens  that  some  one  builds 
a  hilt,  or  fences  in  a  bit  of  ground,  right  across  the  path. 
Then  the  germ  of  law  latent  in  every  society  springs  into 
life  and  action.  The  chief,  or  the  assembly  of  citizens, 
declares  that  this  is  a  trespass  upon  public  and  private 
rights,  and  removes  the  obstruction :  and,  if  the  offender 
resists,  perhaps  puts  him  out  of  the  law,  so  that  any  man 
may  with  impunity  take  his  life. 

Again,  it  is  the  custom  of  the  tribe  that  the  control 
of  the  persons  and  property  of  the  family  shall  descend  to 
the  eldest  son  when  the  father  dies.  This  custom,  neces- 
sary for  protection  and  preservation  of  the  family,  has 
its  sources  far  back  beyond  memory  of  man  or  reach  of 
investigation,  in  the  needs  and  ideas  of  a  primitive  people  ; 
when  it  emerges  into  history  it  has  been  converted  into 
customary  law. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  to  ancient  time  for  illustrations 
of  the  law  of  Custom.  Although  it  is  the  first  phase  of 
legal  growth,  it  remains  always  active  and  productive. 
Modern  laAv  is  full  of  it.  A  very  large  part  of  what  is,  in 
strict   terms.  Common  Law — the   Common  Law  of  Black- 


116  The    Evolution    of   Law. 

stone  —  consists  of  decisions  of  the  Courts  which  hold 
that  certain  customs  are  binding,  because  they  have  been 
common  throughout  the  land,  and  have  prevailed  from  a 
time  to  the  contrary  of  which  the  memory  of  man  ninueth 
not. 

For  generations  custom  is  the  only  source  of  law.  It  is  a 
characteristic  of  primitive  communities,  of  simple  structure 
and  with  small  store  of  civil  experience,  that  a  course  of 
conduct  which  has  been  the  custom  of  ancestors  is  regarded 
as  binding  for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  has  been  liabit- 
ual.  Modern  tests  of  validity,  that  it  is  reasonable,  cer- 
tain, etc.,  are  not  requisite.  Even  when  tlie  village 
community  has  become  subject  to  a  sovereign,  the  law  of 
custom  still  prevails  and  is  paramount ;  for  the  sovereign 
does  not  make  new  law ;  he  enforces  the  old.  No  king  or 
assembly  ever  enacted  the  law  of  ^;»a^rtrt.  ■protestas,  which 
through  the  long  course  of  Roman  history  determined 
religion,  morals,  manners,  rights  and  duties  by  an  iron  rule, 
relaxed  at  last  but  never  completely  loosened ;  its  influence 
co-extensive  with  the  Roman  Empire,  transmitted  through 
many  a  channel  to  this  day,  and  still  apparent  in  the  law  of 
primogeniture  and  the  few  remaining  disabilities  of  women. 

It  is  probable  that  among  the  first  customs  that  were 
converted  into  law  were  many  that  were  derived  from 
religious  ceremonial.  Religion  was  the  chief  business  of 
the  family,  as  war  was  of  the  community  (tribe).  Nothing 
was  done  before  the  domestic  hearth  without  offering  to 
the  Lares  ;  no  furroAV  was  turned  and  no  seed  planted  with- 
out invocation  of  the  gods,  attended  with  strictest  rite  and 
ceremonial.  The  battle  nuist  wait  for  the  generals  to 
consult  the  augurs  —  for  those  were  the  days  when  augurs 
met  without  laughing.  So  strict  was  this  ritualism  that 
the  drop])ing  of  a  word  or  the  omission  of  a  gesture  was 
of  fatal  consequence.  The  formality  and  punctiliousness  of 
the  religious  rite  remained  when  it  received  sanction  from 
the  State,  and  became  a  legal  obligation.  De  m'm'nms  iioti 
curat  lex,  —  the  law  is  not  concerned  about  trifles,  —  is  a 
legal  maxim  of  modern  growth.  It  is  a  natural  result  of 
primitive  conditions  of  thought  and  culture,  superstition, 
narrow  experience  and  shallow  understanding,  that  form 
should  count  for  more  than  substance.  The  reason  of  a 
custom  soon  passes  out  of  sight  and  out  of  mind ;  but  though 
the  reason  fails,  the  law  remains :  and  the  ceremonial  which 


The    Evolution    of    Law.  117 

was  once  significant  of  real  relations,  and  decisive  of  right 
and  duty,  is  reduced  to  mere  formula  and  gestures  of  no 
import. 

So  old  law  becomes  technical  to  the  last  degree ;  error 
in  the  letter  kills,  so  that  the  spirit  can  not  make  alive 
again  by  amendment  of  course.  Gains  says,  if  you  sued 
by  Legis  actio  sacramenti  for  injury  to  your  vines,  and 
called  them  vines,  you  would  fail ;  you  should  call  them 
trees,  because  the  text  of  the  XII.  Table  made  mention  of 
trees  only.  An  old  Teutonic  law  reads :  If  you  sue  for 
a  bull,  you  will  miscarry  if  you  describe  him  as  a  bull ; 
you  must  give  him  the  ancient  judicial  designation  of  the 
leader  of  the  herd.  The  fore-finger  must  be  called  the 
arrow-finger  ;  and  the  goat  the  feeder  on  leeks.  And  even 
as  late  as  the  time  of  Edward  I.,  the  rule  held  that  "  he 
who  fails  in  a  word,  fails  in  his  cause."  This  technicality, 
which  has  been  called  a  disease  of  early  law,  is  trans- 
missible by  descent,  and  runs  far  down  into  modern  law. 
In  England  it  had  a  most  extravagant  outcome  in  the 
system  of  special  pleading  so  long  in  use. 

At  last  it  comes  to  pass,  in  progressive  communities, 
that  the  iron  rule  of  form  and  ceremonial  can  no  longer  be 
endured,  and  the  "  cake  of  custom  "  breaks  at  last.  Social 
and  political  life  have  expanded  and  deepened,  becoming 
manifold  and  complex,  so  that  the  old  laws  are  not  ade- 
quate to  present  needs.  Xew  rights  and  duties  arise  to 
Avhich  they  are  not  suited.  How  shall  these  be  fitted  to 
the  new  order  of  things  ?  The  fact  is,  they  are  not  fitted, 
but  new  rights  and  duties  are  adjusted  to  the  old  ways,  are 
transferred  from  the  domain  of  morality  to  that  of  legality, 
and  are  somehow  forced  and  squeezed  into  the  ancient 
formulas  without  thought  of  logic  or  convenience. 

When  the  mind  regards  form  as  the  essence  and  reason 
of  law,  it  easily  adapts  old  ceremonies  to  new  material 
without  perception  of  inconsistencies.  The  ceremonial 
law  is  hard  to  change,  because  it  has  come  to  be  regarded 
as  the  conservative  element  in  society.  Average  morality 
has  run  far  in  advance  of  positive  law,  but  in  order  that 
the  law  may  be  brought  to  harmonize  with  it,  the  popular 
conscience  must  have  a  long  period  for  action  upon  the 
public  will,  and  through  this  upon  State  administration. 
Then  begins  the  work  of  a  new  and  unique  agency  for 
harmonizing  law  Avith  social  needs   and  ideas.     This  first 


118  The    Evolution    of   Law. 

instrument  for  the  modification  and  improvement  of  law- 
is  Fiction.  Old  law,  particularly  Roman  and  English,  is 
full  of  these  devices. 

One  of  them  had  a  great  influence,  civil  and  social,  in 
ancient  time,  and  has  left  its  traces  in  many  parts  of 
modern  law.  In  Palestine,  India,  Greece,  and  Kome,  there 
was  nothing  of  so  much  social  and  civil  importance  as  that 
the  integrity  of  the  family  should  continue  unbroken  after 
the  death  of  the  father.  He  was  its  head  and  lord ;  and 
more,  for  he  was  household  priest.  He  alone  could  law- 
fully conduct  the  rites  of  ancestral  worship.  Any  inter- 
ruption of  sacred  rites  was  fatal  in  its  consequences. 
When  the  father  died,  his  office  immediately  passed  to  the 
oldest  male  descendant.  In  those  days  of  private  feud 
and  tribal  conflict,  when  men  fought  like  kites  and  crows, 
it  was  likely  to  happen  that  all  the  males  in  a  family 
would  perish.  But  the  worship  of  ancestors  mvist  be  kept 
up  without  a  day's  interruption.  Some  remedy  must  be 
devised.  There  was  no  thought  of  any  out  of  the  exact 
line  of  the  old  ceremonial.  The  law  was  that  the  duty 
could  not  be  delegated  ;  it  must  fall  upon  the  oldest  male 
descendant.  But  there  was  none.  The  problem  was  solved 
by  the  formal  adoption  of  a  stranger  as  son,  who  immedi- 
ately became  such,  not  only  by  law,  but  also  in  the 
regard  of  the  family  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  community. 
Headship  could  not  descend  to  a  female.  From  this  rule 
of  exclusive  devolution  of  the  paternal  power  to  a  male 
is  derived  a  great  part  of  the  modern  law  which  deter- 
mines the  course  which  the  property  of  an  intestate  shall 
follow,  and  also  the  legal  relations  of  husband  and  father 
to  w^ife  and  children. 

The  fiction  of  adoption  was  extended  to  other  trans- 
actions. The  strict  rule  of  ancient  law  did  not  permit  a 
man  to  sell  his  laud  or  to  devise  it  by  will.  He  held  land 
and  goods  as  trustee  for  his  family,  to  the  end  that  it 
might  not  perish  out  of  the  land.  Private  ownership  with 
right  to  sell  is  an  incident  of  advanced  law.  Of  course, 
with  change  of  conditions  as  time  goes  on,  this  rule  be- 
comes inconvenient.  The  public  begin  to  regard  it  first 
as  inconvenient,  then  as  unjust,  at  last  as  not  to  be  endured. 
Then  public  opinion  begins  its  influence  ui)on  the  magis- 
trates. But  there  is  no  thought  of  changing  the  old  law 
imposed  by  the  ancestral  gods  —  which  declares  that  prop- 


The    Evolution    of   Law.  119 

erty  belongs  to  the  family ;  and  when  the  family  has  perished 
that  it  shall  go  to  the  gens.  So  the  crafty  and  shifty 
magistrate  invents  a  fiction  which  satisfies  the  unsophis- 
ticated gods  with  the  form,  and  gives  the  substance  to 
buyer  or  devisee.  The  proposed  devisee  is  adopted  with 
rigid  observance  of  ancient  form  and  formula,  as  eldest 
son  of  the  family ;  or  the  vendee  is  so  adopted ;  and  the 
title  of  either  is  perfect. 

For  a  long  time,  reforms  in  Roman  and  English  law 
were  brought  about  in  this  way.  It  is  said,  by  competent 
authority,  that  there  was  a  time  when  almost  the  entire  law 
of  English  procedure  was  composed  of  such  fictions.  It  is 
quite  certain  that  no  historic  system  has  been  without 
them ;  and  it  is  fair  to  infer  that  they  are  a  necessary  phase 
of  legal  development.  The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  We 
find  it  in  the  conditions  of  a  primitive  people ;  their 
poverty  of  resource,  narrow  range  of  experience,  a  lack 
of  constructive  imagination,  the  formality  and  techni- 
cality of  primitive  ways  due  to  the  influence  of  a  cere- 
monial religion,  and  most  of  all,  in  the  mental  apathy  that 
always  characterizes  an  age  of  ignorance. 

Next  to  Fiction  in  the  development  of  Law  comes 
Equitij]  which,  according  to  Sir  Henry  Maine,  signifies 
"Any  body  of  rules  existing  by  the  side  of  the  original 
"  civil  law ;  founded  on  distinct  principles,  and  claiming 
"  incidentally  to  supersede  the  civil  law  in  virtue  of  a  su- 
"perior  sanctity  inherent  in  these  principles."  This  is 
not  what  modern  courts  would  regard  as  a  "  working  defini- 
tion " ;  for  they  have  come  to  regard  Equity  as  a  fixed  sys- 
tem, —  Maine  regards  it  as  an  influence. 

The  necessity  for  the  action  of  such  an  influence  in  the 
modification  and  improvement  of  the  law  is  due  to  the 
fact  that,  in  all  communities  which  are  not  stationary, 
the  morality  of  the  people  runs  in  advance  of  the  law. 
As  civilization  progresses,  rights  and  duties  multiply  and 
become  more  complex ;  with  this,  morality  refines,  and  the 
public  conscience  broadens,  deepens  and  becomes  more 
sensitive,  so  that  the  rigidity  and  formality  of  old  law 
comes  to  be  regarded  as  a  hindrance  to  progress.  Espec- 
ially does  its  inadequacy  in  adapting  form  to  substance, 
and  procedure  to  merits,  and  its  poverty  of  resource  in 
number  and  kinds  of  remedies,  begin  to  be  felt.  The 
sense  comes  that  procedure    and  judgment  should  be  ac- 


120  The    Evolution    of    Law. 

cording  to  the  merits  of  each  case  considered  by  itself, 
rather  than  as  one  of  a  class  of  cases  that  fall  nnder  some 
general  rule :  and  particularly  that  a  man's  claim  shall 
depend  for  success  upon  application  of  principles  of  right 
and  justice,  and  not  upon  the  chance  of  fitting  his  case 
into  some  determined  and  arbitrary  form  of  statement, 
or  of   referring  it  to  some  precedent. 

The  stock  illustration  of  the  operation  of  Equity  given 
in  the  text-books  is  this:  Tlie  Common  Law  would  not 
discharge  a  man  from  liability  upon  a  bond  which  he  had 
signed  and  sealed,  unless  he  could  bring  into  Court  as 
evidence  of  discharge  a  release  also  under  sign  and  seal  of 
the  plaintiff.  If  the  defendant  oifered  to  prove  that  he 
had  in  fact  discharged  himself  from  liability,  by  payment 
of  money  or  otherwise,  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  intro- 
duce his  evidence.  But  when  the  Equity  Courts  began  to 
assume  jurisdiction,  they  admitted  the  evidence,  and,  upon 
proof  of  discharge,  issued  an  injunction  forbidding  the 
plaintiff  to  f  urtlier  prosecute  his  suit.  This  was  sub  poena : 
that  is,  if  the  plaintiff  persisted,  he  was  summoned  before 
the  Chancellor  and  fined  or  imprisoned  for  contenq^t  of 
Court.  He  could  get  no  help  from  the  Common  law 
Courts ;  for  the  Chancellor  stood  next  to  the  throne,  was 
the  keeper  of  the  King's  conscience,  and  had  all  his  influ- 
ence and  power  to  aid  in  enforcing  his  judgment.  Again, 
Common  Law  could  not  anticipate  and  prevent  the  doing 
of  a  threatened  wrong,  but  must  wait  until  the  act  was 
done,  and  then  could  give  damages  in  money  only.  Equity 
compelled  the  offender  to  come  into  court,  and  enjoined  his 
wrong-doing  under  penalty  of  fine  and  imprisonment. 
Again,  the  old  law  gave  to  the  husband  absolute  ownership 
and  control  of  the  personal  property  owned  before  marriage 
by  the  wife.  Equity  compelled  liim  to  set  aside  in  the 
hands  of  trustees  a  part  for  her  exclusive  use. 

A  brief  sketch  of  the  growth  of  Ecpiity  in  England 
will  further  illustrate  its  character.  During  tlie  reign  of 
"William  the  Conqueror  and  his  immediate  successors,  the 
King's  Court,  composed  of  the  great  lords,  exercised  juris- 
diction in  the  most  important  civil  and  criminal  cases, 
leaving  to  the  ohl  popular  County  Courts  a  very  limited 
authority  in  local  affairs.  The  King's  Court  finally  broke 
up  into  tliree  distinct  Courts,  afterwards  called  Common 
Law,  to  distinguish   them    from    the   Courts  of  Chancery. 


The    Evolution    of   Law.  121 

The  business  of  those  days  was  fighting :  there  was  hardly 
a  beginning  of  trade  and  commerce ;  the  value  of  all  the 
personal  property  in  the  Kingdom  was  small ;  the  rules  of 
land  law,  compared  with  those  of  a  later  period,  were 
few  and  simple ;  so  the  law  of  the  time  was  crude  and 
rudimentary.  There  were  only  four  forms  of  action  in 
the  Common  Law  Courts  which  could  be  employed  to 
maintain  a  right  or  remedy  a  wrong.  These  failing  to  fit 
the  case,  the  plaintiff  must  go  out  of  Court  poorer  than 
he  went  in.  These  four  remedies,  as  stiff  and  narrow 
as  they  were  simple,  afforded  poor  showing  for  relief 
in  the  manifold  forms  of  what  Coke  used  to  call  fraud  and 
covin.  There  was  many  a  way  by  which  the  cruel  over- 
lord could  oppress  and  defraud  his  poor  tenant  with  im- 
punity, because  his  act  could  not  be  described  in  the  set 
phrases  of  either  of  the  writs  of  Debt,  Detinue,  Covenant 
or  Trespass. 

We  read  that  at  last  some  complainant,  failing  to  get 
redress  in  the  Common  Law  Courts,  but  bound  to  push 
his  case,  would  somehow  get  access  to  the  King,  —  coming 
down  to  London,  or  appearing  before  him  on  one  of  his 
circuits  through  the  kingdom,  —  and  would  give  his  plaint, 
and  pray  for  relief.  Whereupon  the  King  summoned  the 
accused  to  make  his  plea,  and,  if  found  in  the  wrong,  with 
off-hand  justice  he  granted  the  relief  asked  for.  There 
were  besides,  cases  too  difficult  to  be  determined  by  the 
ordinary  courts,  which  were  brought  before  the  King  for 
decision.  This  kind  of  business  grew,  of  course,  and  be- 
came so  heavy  a  burden  that  he  must  have  help,  and  so 
a  Justiciary,  or  Chancellor,  as  auxiliary.  In  time  the 
work  increased  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  organize 
a  corp  of  assistants  and  subordinates.  This  was  the 
origin  of  the  famous  Court  of  Chancery  —  an  institu- 
tion at  first  beneficent,  remedial,  and  progressive,  which 
regarded  justice  as  of  more  consequence  that  precedent,  and 
form  as  of  little  account  when  weighed  against  substance  ; 
but  which  became  first  conservative,  then  reactionary, 
and  at  last  an  obstacle  to  right  and  justice,  so  that  it 
well  deserved  all  the  invective  of  Bentham  and  all  the 
satire  of  Dickens. 

The  tliird  agent  in  the  modification  and  improvement 
of  law  is  Legislation,  which  in  course  of  time  becomes  a 
large  part  of  the  business  of  the  State.     The  State  is  now 


122  The    Evolution    of   Law. 

mature.  It  has  become  sovereign, — embodied  in  king, 
emperor,  or  assembly,  —  and  supreme  over  its  subjects  to 
determine  action,  compel  obedience,  and  regulate  rights 
and  duties.  According  to  the  theory  of  the  English  school 
of  jurisprudence  there  is  no  limit  upon  its  power  to  make 
law  — ■  but  in  fact,  and  in  apparent  support  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  rival  German  school,  the  action  of  legislatures  is 
limited  by  the  popular  conscience  and  will. 

A  distinctive  characteristic  of  Legislation  is  that  it  is 
supreme  over  all  other  methods  of  law-making.  Its  ad- 
vantage is  that  it  can  make  the  will  of  the  people  effective 
much  more  directly  and  expeditiously  than  the  other 
agencies.  Many  are  the  cases  in  which  Legislation  has 
swept  away  the  cobwebs  of  legal  subtlety,  simplified  tech- 
nical laws,  and  cleared  from  the  path  of  progress  the 
obstacles  of  precedent  and  form.  It  has  abolished  im- 
prisonment for  debt,  removed  the  disability  of  a  party  to 
a  suit  to  testify ;  has  given  the  prisoner  the  benefit  of 
counsel  and  the  right  to  testify  in  his  own  behalf;  has 
converted  the  wife  from  a  figment  of  law  appurtenant  to 
the  husband  into  a  legal  person,  and  is  slowly  bringing 
woman  to  an  equality  with  man  in  civil  rights. 

In  the  progressive  State  the  legislative  function  increases 
rapidly  in  scope  and  application,  until  its  share  in  law- 
making becomes  apparently,  if  not  really,  greater  than  that 
of  all  other  sources.  After  lai)S^  of  time,  —  perhaps  of  a 
centur}',  as  in  Kew  York  State ;  perhaps  of  centuries,  as 
in  England,  —  the  bulk  of  this  statute  law  becomes  very 
great.  At  the  same  time  the  law  of  judicial  decision  has 
also  been  growing  rapidly,  with  constant  accumulation  of 
additions,  affirmations,  reversals,  and  distinctions.  There 
may  hav(^  been  —  must  have  been  —  a  guiding  principle 
of  growth  in  either  case,  which  a  master  in  analysis 
might  discover ;  Imt  none  the  less  is  the  result  in  one  case 
a  thicket,  in  the  other  a  jungle,  the,  imperviousness  and 
cruel  thorniness  of  which  it  enters  into  the  heart  of  none 
but  a  practicing  lawyer  to  conceive.  Statutes  accumulate 
by  the  myriads,  with  no  order,  no  sequence  except  in  date, 
no  interdependence  ;  in  a  word,  there  is  nothing  in  print  that 
is  so  utterly  incoherent  as  a  collection  of  statutes.  And  it 
takes  thousands  of  volumes  to  contain  the  (lisjccta  membra  of 
the  behemoth  of  Common  Law  —  which  some  beaten  and  dis- 


The    Evolution    of   Law.  123 

gusted  lawyer  three  hundred  years  ago  called  a  "  godless 
jumble,"  probably  after  judgment  against  his  client. 

This  complexity,  confusion  and  unwieldiness  surely  seems 
to  call  for  some  sort  of  correction.  Not  a  few  are  of 
the  opinion  that  the  remedy  is  to  be  found  in  codification, 
which  they  regard  as  an  advanced  phase  in  the  growth 
of  law;  while  their  opponents  regard  it  as  an  advanced 
stage  in  the  decomposition  of  law.  A  Code  is  a  systematic 
body  of  laws  enacted  by  the  legislature.  It  comprises 
the  settled  principles  of  the  law  of  judicial  decision,  and 
statutory  law  previously  enacted,  arranged  systematically 
by  topics,  in  divisions,  chapters  and  sections,  for  easy 
reference.  It  also  contains  definitions  of  legal  terms, 
rules  for  its  own  interpretation,  and  provisions  for  the 
future  scope  and  application  of  the  method  of  judicial 
decision  to  such  cases  as  may  arise  outside  of  its  own 
intent  and  specification.  It  should  repeal  obsolete  statutes, 
settle  disputed  questions  of  law  in  the  province  of  judicial 
decision,  and  provide  for  its  own  amendment.  This 
is  a  long  definition, —  still  it  is  incomplete. 

The  ancient  codes,  of  which  the  Jewish,  Roman,  Salic 
and  Brehon  are  examples,  were  not  codes  in  the  modern 
sense.  They  were  mere  undigested  collections  of  custom- 
ary laws,  published  for  the  information  of  the  people  and 
the  government  of  magistrates.  In  the  later  period  of 
Roman  law,  especially  during  the  Empire,  many  experi- 
ments in  scientific  codification  were  made,  resulting,  early 
in  the  sixth  century,  in  the  publication  of  the  famous 
Justinian  Codes.  These  are  the  source  and  model  of  the 
modern  European  codes,  of  which  the  most  famous  is  the 
Code  Napoleon.  The  Codes  of  Justinian  are  the  domain 
of  research  and  exploration  for  students  of  general  juris- 
prudence and  the  philosophy  of  law;  subjects  of  great 
importance  in  their  possible  relation  to  the  future  im- 
provement of  law. 

The  movement  for  codification  of  English  law  was  initiated 
by  Bentham  early  in  this  century,  in  his  vigorous  and  virulent 
style.  But  English  institutions  are  hard  to  change,  and 
progress  has  been  slow.  At  last  hoAvever,  Codification  is  the 
"burning  question"  in  English  jurisprudence.  Already 
two  or  three  branches  of  Private  Law  have  been  codified, 
and  more  are  likely  to  follow.  Lawyers,  Judges  and  Legis- 
lators there,    as  here,  are  divided ;    men  of    great  ability 


124  The    Evolution    of   Law. 

and  learned  in  the  law  differ  most  positively,  —  one  party 
insisting  that  Codification  is  the  only  hope  for  the  law  of 
the  future ;  the  other,  that  it  would  be  its  destruction. 

Codification  has  fared  better  in  the  United  States.  The 
majority  of  the  States  have  adopted  one  or  more  of  the 
ordinary  forms  of  Practice,  Penal  and  Civil  codes.  Louisi- 
ana from  the  first  has  been  governed  by  a  Code  modeled 
upon  the  Code  Napoleon.  It  is  here  at  home,  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  that  the  main  battle  has  been  fought,  with 
victory  for  the  advocates  of  Codification  in  1848,  when  the 
Code  of  Civil  Procedure  was  adopted ;  and  in  1882,  when 
the  Penal  Code  was  enacted,  —  while  the  fight  still  goes 
on,  fierce  and  hot,  over  the  proposed  Civil  Code. 

The  advocates  of  codification  claim  that  it  is  possible 
for  a  Commission  of  Experts  in  special  departments  to 
frame  a  general  Code,  made  up  of  special  Codes,  con- 
structed, if  necessary,  by  extensions  made  at  convenient 
intervals  of  time,  tliat  would  have  these  advantages  over 
the  present  system  —  or  chaos  of  laws,  as  they  call  it: 
Scientific  Arrangement ;  Accessibility  ;  Intelligibility ;  Cer- 
tainty. It  is  urged  that  Codification  is  necessary  because 
law,  whether  statute  or  judicial,  is  not  at  present  sys- 
tematized in  a  scientific  and  pliilosophic  way.  Both  are 
published  in  volumes  that  appear  from  year  to  year,  and 
are  mere  records,  without  system,  analysis  or  arrangement 
of  any  sort ;  except  so  far  as  the  so-called  Revision  of 
Statutes  made  in  some  of  the  States  goes  in  that  direction. 
To  be  sure,  ponderous  digests  are  published,  but  these  have 
no  legal  authority.  It  is  charged,  as  a  defect  of  the  law  of 
judicial  decision  in  its  present  state,  that  it  is  inaccessible 
to  any  but  experts ;  and  that  an  expert  even  must  work  a 
devious  and  doubtful  way  through  a  maze  of  cases  in  order 
to  find  a  case  on  all  fours  with  his  own,  only  to  realize, 
after  a  search  through  some  hundreds  of  cases  scattered 
hither  and  yon  in  some  hundreds  of  the  8,000  volumes  of 
reports,  that  case-law  is  wliat  Pollock  calls  "chaos  tem- 
pered by  digests."  The  advocates  of  codification  claim 
that  a  code  would  cure  this  defect  and  make  the  law 
accessible. 

It  is  also  cliarged  tliat  tlie  law,  whether  statute  or  judi- 
cial, is  unintelligible,  as  well  as  inaccessible,  to  any  but 
experts,  so  that  a  man  of  ordinary  intelligence,  even  one  of 
trained  intellect,  cannot  without  help  of  a  lawyer  ascertain 


The    Evolution    of  Law.  125 

the  law  that  concerns  his  ordinary  rights  and  duties, — 
although  it  is  a  legal  maxim  that  ignorance  of  the  law  is 
of  no  avail  as  a  defence.  It  is  urged  that  a  code  would 
cure  this  defect.  One  enthusiast  suggests  that  such  a  code 
should  be  used  as  a  text-book  in  our  public  schools,  —  the 
most  important  sections  of  law  to  be  learned,  as  the 
Twelve  Tables  were  learned  by  Koman  boys.  It  is  also 
charged  that  the  law  of  judicial  decision  is  defective  in 
the  quality  of  certainty.  This  appears  in  the  great  num- 
ber of  conflicting  decisions  and  overruled  cases  to  be  found 
in  the  reports.  Of  the  154  cases  reported  in  one  volume 
(1883)  of  the  reports  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  New 
York,  32  were  reversals  of  decisions  made  by  the  General 
Term.  In  25  volumes  of  Missouri  reports,  40  per  cent, 
are  reversals.  Another  alleged  cause  of  uncertainty  is 
that  important  questions  remain  unsettled,  because  the 
Courts,  as  some  one  has  said,  "nibble  round  their  edges," 
and  give  judgment  by  indirection  only. 

It  is  objected  to  codification  that  the  reduction  of  the 
law  of  judicial  decision  to  statute  form  will  give  it  the 
acknowledged  defects  of  statute  law  —  particularity,  rigid- 
ity, and  strictness  in  interpretation.  Also,  that  it  deprives 
the  courts  of  the  power  to  exercise  the  fu.nction  of  ad- 
ministering equity,  of  which  the  distinctive  merit  and 
advantage  is  that  it  does  justice  in  each  case  according  to 
the  particulars  of  the  case,  —  which  any  rigid  formula  of 
law  fails  to  do.  It  is  also  objected  that  it  is  obvious  that 
no  jurist  of  one  generation  can  anticipate  the  needs  of  the 
next.  Law  is  the  resultant  of  the  moral  and  physical 
forces  of  civilization,  which  vary  continually  with  the 
changing  circumstances,  conscience  and  will  of  the  people. 
Any  code  must,  therefore,  be  continually  subjected  to 
amendment,  and  be  tinkered  according  to  the  varying  ca- 
prices of  legislative  committees,  —  resulting  in  a  confusion 
and  uncertainty  much  greater  than  that  charged  against 
the  law  of  judicial  decision. 

Again,  it  is  objected  that  the  enactment  of  a  code  would 
not  dispense  with  the  necessity  of  further  development 
of  judicial  law ;  for  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  draw  a  statute  in  terms  so  exact  and  definite 
that  it  will  not  some  time  require  judicial  interpretation 
to  determine  its  meaning  and  application.  The  New  York 
Code  of  Procedure  has   been  the  prolific  source   of  thou- 


126  The    Evolution    of    Law. 

sands  of  decisions.  It  is  said  that  there  are,  in  English 
and  American  reports,  40,000  cases  of  interpretation  of 
the  Statute  of  Frauds. 

Finally,  it  is  objected  that  history  shows  that  codifica- 
tion is  suited  only  to  a  moribund  state  of  the  law,  when 
it  has  lost  its  spontaneity  and  capacity  for  improvement ; 
that  codes  have  appeared  at  a  period  of  national  decline,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Justinian  Codes,  or  at  a  period  of  political  con- 
fusion, as  in  the  case  of  the  Code  Napolean.  One  writer  (Best) 
says  that  codification  has  always  been  indicative  of  a 
contemporaneous  state  of  absolutism  on  one  side,  of  civic 
pusillanimity  on  the  other.  The  great  German  jurist 
Savigny  regards  the  French,  Prussian  and  Austrian  Codes 
as  symbolical  of  the  peculiar  vices  incident  both  to  revolu- 
tion and  tyranny. 

The  conflict  of  opinion  finds  expression,  on  one  side,  in 
the  language  of  Sir  Henry  Maine:  "English  law  will 
continue  to  bear  the  marks  of  the  injury  that  results 
"from  the  absence  of  creative  judisprudence,  until  legisla- 
"tive  rearrangement  and  restatement  fully  disclose  the 
"  stores  of  common  sense  which  are  at  present  concealed 
"  by  its  defects  of  language  and  form."  On  the  other 
hand,  an  American  law-writer  wails  after  this  fashion: 
"If  England  adopts  codification,  it  requires  no  gift  of 
"  prophecy  to  foresee  that  her  encompassing  seas  will  weep 
"upon  the  dripping  rocks  around  that  island  a  more 
"  mournful  requiem  than  was  ever  before  sung  over  fallen 
"  greatness  and  glory." 

The  several  methods  of  development  of  law — Custom, 
Fiction,  Equity  and  Legislation,  and,  if  you  please,  Codifi- 
cation; the  necessary  results  of  the  continuous  interaction 
of  State  and  society;  different  methods  of  adjustment  of 
rights  and  duties,  and  all  operating,  wlien  in  normal  action, 
to  produce  for  each  individual  least  restraint  and  the 
greatest  liberty  —  are  best  illustrated  in  the  two  great 
historical  systems  of  law,  the  Roman  and  the  P^nglish. 
There  is  space  for  only  a  passing  notice.  Their  lines 
of  development  are  in  some  respects  so  diverse  that 
they  have  sometimes  been  regarded  as  repugnant  sys- 
tems. This  is  true  rather  in  respect  to  forms  and  proced- 
ure than  in  substance.  The  most  obvious  differences  are 
that  the  distinction  between  real  and  personal  ])roperty, 
Avhich  is  of  such  importance  in  English  law  and  one  of  the 


The    Evolution    of   Law.  127 

greatest  of  obstacles,  perhaps  the  greatest,  in  its  progress, 
had  no  place  in  the  Roman.  At  Rome,  Law  and  Equity 
were  administered  by  the  same  Court  —  in  England,  they 
were  divided  between  two,  which  differed  in  constitution, 
jurisdiction,  procedure,  principles  and,  in  early  times, 
in  spirit  and  ideals,  so  that  for  a  long  time  they  were 
in  open  and  bitter  conflict.  In  each  of  our  original 
States,  with  the  sole  exception  of  Louisiana  I  believe,  Law 
and  Equity  were  administered  in  separate  Courts.  In 
1848  the  two  jurisdictions  in  the  State  of  Xew  York  were 
merged  into  one,  by  Act  of  Legislature.  The  majority  of 
the  States  have  followed  her  example,  and  at  last,  even  in 
old  England,  the  home  of  precedent,  the  Law  and  Equity 
Courts  were  consolidated  in  1873. 

In  the  law-courts  of  England,  questions  of  faoi;  were 
always  decided  by  a  jury  taken  from  the  people ;  in  Rome 
they  were  referred  to  an  oflicer  selected  from  a  body  of 
professional  experts.  In  English  practice,  no  decision  was 
made  upon  a  hypothetical  case  for  the  sake  of  determining 
a  principle  of  law.  An  issue  of  fact  or  law  could  be 
joined  only  when  a  suit  was  brought  for  actual  damage  or 
relief.  A  great  deal  of  Roman  law  consisted  of  the  opin- 
ions of  jurists  upon  hypothetical  cases,  which  were  made 
authoritative  by  the  edict  of  the  praetor.  Law  grew  much 
more  rapidly,  and  it  was  much  easier  to  modify  it,  in  Rome, 
because  the  judges  were  less  conservative  and  had  less  re- 
gard for  precedent.  At  Rome,  law  was  studied  philosphi- 
cally,  as  a  science ;  in  England,  as  a  profession,  empirically. 
Although,  in  literature  and  art,  Rome  was  of  second  rate, 
—  pupil  and  imitator,  —  in  law  she  was  original  and  cre- 
ative ;  without  peer  then,  and  without  superior  now.  In  one 
direction  she  made  greater  progress  than  any  modern 
State  —  the  philosophical  study  of  law.  Professional 
jurists  are  rare  in  this  country  and  in  England,  and  are  not 
common  on  the  Continent.  They  abounded  in  Rome,  and 
Maine  says  that  they  were  the  means  of  producing  results 
which  the  English  practitioner  lacks  centuries  of  attaining. 
He  adds  that  "the  great  importance  of  the  Roman  law  is 
that  in  our  law  we  approach  nearer  and  nearer  to  its  con- 
clusions." 

The  law  of  any  period  is  the  resultant  of  countless 
forces,  climatic,  social,  religious  and  moral,  concurring 
through  long  periods  of  time  and  over  wide  areas  of  influ- 


128  The    Evolution    of   Law. 

ence.  Making  allowance  for  the  fact  that  law  lags  behind 
morality,  we  find  the  law  of  any  period  fairly  representa- 
tive of  the  intelligence,  morality  and  ideals  of  tlie  people. 
The  student  finds  many  illustrations,  often  quaint  and  curi- 
ous, of  the  varying  phases  of  social  and  civil  relations, 
and  of  habit,  thought  and  belief. 

Some  of  the  primitive  methods  of  collecting  a  debt 
strike  a  modern  sheriff  as  at  least  unique.  The  first  of 
the  Twelve  Roman  Tables  reads,  — "  If  you  summon  a 
man  (debtor)  into  Court,  he  must  go  ;  if  he  refuse,  call  a 
witness  and  arrest  him ;  if  he  attempts  flight,  lay  hands 
upon  him."  Observe  that  the  plaintiff  is  allowed  to  arrest 
the  defendant  and  bring  him  into  court.  The  State  is  not 
represented  by  an  officer ;  the  summons  is  a  private  act, 
and  th^  duty  of  the  official  is  only  to  give  judgment.  This 
is  a  step  in  advance  of  the  mode  of  private  redress,  when 
the  parties  fought  it  out  with  fists  or  clubs.  If  judg- 
ment went  against  the  defendant  he  was  allowed  thirty 
days  in  which  to  satisfy  it.  If  he  failed,  the  plaintiff 
could  arrest  him  and  bring  him  before  the  magistrate,  who 
demanded  surety.  If  this  was  not  given,  he  was  adjudged 
to  the  plaintiff;  was  put  in  chains,  and  confined  in  the 
house  of  the  plaintiff  for  thirty  days.  Meanwhile,  the 
amount  of  his  debt  was  proclaimed  on  three  successive 
days,  in  the  market-place.  If  on  the  third  day  no  surety 
was  obtained,  he  could  be  sold  into  slavery  ;  or  he  might 
be  put  to  death,  and  his  body  divided  —  probably  ^;»ro  rata 
—  among  the  creditors.  The  words  of  the  Twelfth  Table 
are,  —  "  On  the  third  market-day  let  him  be  cut  in  pieces  : 
if  any  one  cut  too  much  or  too  little  it  will  be  no  crime." 
Very  gruesome  this, — worse  than  the  old  English  law  of 
imprisonment  for  debt;  and  worse  than  the  experience  of 
the  uncomfortable  victim  of  modern  supplementary  ])ro- 
ceedings  after  execution.  However,  retrospective  jtity  may 
be  suspended  in  view  of  the  fact  that  later  criticism  gives 
a  milder  meaning  to  the  text —  to  this  effect :  "  Let  him  be 
sold,  and  the  proceeds  be  divided  ratably  among  the  credi- 
tors." 

The  following  is  how  they  collected  a  debt  not  long  ago, 
in  India.  The  process  was  called  "  sifti7if/  d/iania,''  and  is 
thus  described  :  "It  is  a  fixed  principle  with  tlie  Hindoo 
"that  to  deprive  a  Brahmin  of  life,  either  by  direct  violence 
*'or  by  causing   his  death  in  any  mode,  is  a  crime  which 


The    Evolution    of   Law.  129 

"  admits  of  no  expiation.  To  this  principle  may  be  traced 
"the  practice  called  dharna.  The  Brahmin  proceeds  to 
"  the  door  or  house  of  the  person  against  whom  it  is  di- 
"  rected,  or  wherever  he  may  most  conveniently  arrest  him ; 
"  he  there  sits  down  in  dharna,  with  poison  or  some  instru- 
"ment  of  suicide  in  his  hand,  threatening  to  use  it  if  his 
"  adversary  attempts  to  molest  or  pass  him.  He  thus  coni- 
"pletely  arrests  him.  The  Brahmin  fasts,  and  by  the 
''  rigor  of  etiquette  the  debtor  also  fasts ;  and  so  they 
"  remain,  until  satisfaction  is  obtained.  Failure  is  rare ; 
"  for  if  the  arrested  party  were  to  suffer  the  Brahmin  to 
"  perish  by  hunger  the  sin  would  lie  forever  upon  his  head." 
It  is  said  that  this  method  of  procedure  ''  has  been  put 
''  under  the  ban  of  the  British  law,  and  chiefly  survives  in 
"  an  exaggerated  air  of  suffering  worn  by  the  creditor,  who 
"  comes  to  ask  a  debtor  of  higher  rank  for  payment,  when 
"he  is  told  to  wait." 

In  Persia  the  man  who  is  to  fast  sows  barley  in  front 
of  the  debtor's  door,  and  sits  down,  with  intent  to  stay 
till  the  debt  is  paid  or  the  barley  grown  so  as  to  give  him 
bread.  We  do  not  know  that  any  connection  has  ever  been 
traced  between  this  and  a  similar  custom  which  formerly 
obtained  in  Ireland. 

Illustration  of  variations  of  law  due  to  influences  of  race 
and  time  is  found  in  the  history  of  the  testamentary  dis- 
position of  property.  The  idea  that  a  man  has  the  right 
to  direct  the  course  which  his  property  shall  take  after 
his  death  is  modern,  and  even  now  does  not  prevail  in  parts 
of  the  East.  In  India,  the  theory  of  the  native  law  is 
that  descendants  receive  the  property  of  their  ancestor  in 
trust  for  continued  performance  of  the  rites  prescribed  for 
worship  of  ancestors.  Essentially  the  same  law  held  in 
early  Rome,  and  centuries  passed  before  fiction  and  equity 
so  modified  it  that  testamentary  disposition  became  free. 
In  England  lands  could  not  be  devised  according  to  the 
wish  of  a  testator  until  the  reign  of  Henry  YIII. 

The  growth  of  Criminal  law  is  a  subject  of  great 
interest,  rich  in  material  for  the  investigation  of  the  stu- 
dent of  comparative  law.  There  is  space  here  for  but  a 
single  point.  The  interference  of  the  State  in  what 
modern  law  calls  crimes  made  its  appearance  late  in  history. 
For  generations,  murder,  theft  and  robbery  were  regarded  as 
private  wrongs,  to  be  settled  by  the  method  of  retaliation. 


130  The    Evolution    of   Law. 

When  the  State  at  last  interfered  it  did  no  more  than  to 
compel  the  tribe  of  the  injured  man  to  accept  a  money 
compensation. 

A  notable  generalization  of  comparative  law  has  been 
expressed  by  Maine,  in  a  significant  sentence :  "  The  move- 
''ment  of  progressive  Societies  has  been  from  Status  to 
"  Contract."  In  ancient  communities  State  law  does  not 
reacli  the  individual :  it  deals  only  with  family  relations. 
The  individual  was  absolutely  subject  in  life,  person,  and 
earnings,  to  the  head  of  the  family,  no  matter  how  old  he 
might  be.  He  had  no  personal  rights;  if  injured  he 
could  not  recover  damages ;  his  family  must  prosecute,  and 
received  the  damages  ;  if  he  injured  a  member  of  another 
family,  his  own  settled  by  the  payment  of  a  fine.  He  was 
not  a  legal  unit,  or  even  a  legal  fraction ;  he  was  an  abso- 
lute zero.  It  followed  that  in  a  political  and  a  legal  point 
of  view  his  condition  was  that  of  status, —  determined  by 
family  and  tribe,  with  no  element  of  individuality  in  it. 
He  had  no  legal  free-will,  so  could  not  bind  himself  by  a 
promise;  and  therefore  could  not  make  a  contract.  As 
he  had  no  legal  free-will,  his  legal  status,  of  whatever  sort, 
could  not  be  changed  by  his  own  act.  When  contract 
seems  to  be  first  enforced  by  law  it  is  not  for  the  reason  of 
the  English  law,  that  there  has  been  some  consideration ; 
or  for  that  of  the  Roman  law,  that  it  is  equitable  that 
a  man  shall  be  bound  by  his  promise  —  but  it  was  en- 
forced because  some  public  State  ceremonial  had  been  per- 
formed in  which  certain  formalities  in  act  and  formulas  in 
words  had  been  followed  with  exactness ;  then  the  promisor 
was  bound,  even  if  his  promise  had  been  obtained  by  fraud 
or  force.  In  the  early  stage  of  development  of  contract, 
an  agreement  could  not  be  made  binding  by  private  consent 
or  action  alone.  The  State  must  give  its  sanction  in  some 
ceremonial.  Even  to-day,  in  some  of  the  Indian  provinces, 
a  contract  is  not  considered  binding  by  the  natives  until  it 
has  been  confirmed  by  the  courts,  representing  the  State. 

At  last,  with  help  of  Fiction,  Equity  and  Legislation, 
the  old  patria  2>otestas  has  almost  died  out  of  Western 
law.  Status  has  passed  to  Contract;  and  the  riglit  of  men 
—  and  women  too  —  to  be  their  own  masters,  and  to  ex- 
tend the  spliere  of  the  action  of  their  will  over  things  by 
private  owership,  and  over  persons  by  contract,  is  forever 
assured. 


EVOLUTION  OF  MEDICAL  SCIENCE 


BY 


ROBERT  G.   ECCLES,   M.  D. 

Author  of  "The  Evolution  of  Mind,"  "The  Relativity  of 
Knowledge,"  etc. 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "Principles of  Sociology" ;  Gradle's  "  The  Germ  The- 
ory of  Disease";  Tyndall's  "Fragments  of  Science";  Stille's 
Therapeutics  and  Materia  Medica" ;  Belfield's  "  Relation  of  Micro- 
organisms to  Disease" ;  Peters's  "History  of  Ancient  Pharmacy," 
(Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  p.  95);  Whewell's  "History  of  the  Inductive  Sci- 
ences," (Vol.  I.,  p.  227,  Vol.  II.,  p.  261) ;  Rodwell's  "  Birth  of  Chem- 
istry"; Hughes's  "Manual  of  Therapeutics";  "Pharmacopoeia" 
(Ency.  Brit.),  "Avicena,"  "Alchemy,"  "Pharmacopffiia,"  "Phar- 
macy" (Chambers's  Ency.),  "Pharmacopoeia"  (Johnson's  Cyclo- 
pedia), N.  Y.  Medical  Times  (Vol.  XVII.,  p.  158),  Jour,  of  Am. 
Med.  Asso.  (Vol.  XIII.,  p.  258),  Druggist's  Circular  (Vol.  XXXIII., 
p.  124),  N.  E.  Druggi.st  (Vol.  I.,  p.  12);  Flint's  "Practice  of  Med- 
icine"; "Michigan  State  Board  of  Health  Report"  (Report  of 
Committee  on  Sanitary  Literature,  p.  122);  Cruikshank's  "Prac- 
tical Bactei-iology." 

(132) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF    MEDICAL  SCIENCE.* 


How  primitive  man  treated  disease  and  eased  pain  is  now 
mainly  a  matter  of  pure  conjecture.  General  inferences 
may  be  drawn  from  the  methods  of  modern  savages  and 
the  traditions  carried  into  historic  time.  Till  men  suffered 
by  the  mere  sight  of  suifering  in  others,  no  effort  was  likely 
to  be  put  forth  to  still  the  pain  felt  by  a  neighbor,  or  stay 
the  ravages  of  disease  upon  him.  Side  by  side  with  the 
development  of  the  altruistic  fellow-feeling  has  gone  on  the 
Evolution  of  Medicine. 

There  looms  up  with  the  dawn  of  history  an  indefinite 
mass  of  distorted  facts  and  pure  fiction  from  which  modern 
Physical  Science  as  well  as  modern  Medical  Science  has 
been  born.  To  fully  realize  the  process  by  which  the  change 
went  on  is  exceedingly  difficult,  owing  to  our  inability  to 
put  ourselves,  in  fancy,  into  the  queer  mental  states  of  our 
progenitors.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  believe  that  they  were  as 
thoroughly  steeped  in  superstition  as  the  facts  force  us  to 
acknowledge.  Supernaturalism  wove  itself  into  every 
thought  and  controlled  every  act.  The  ghost-theory  ex- 
plained every  fact  of  their  experience.  Winds  and  waves, 
falling  bodies,  light  and  darkness,  disease  and  death,  were 
all  the  direct  results  of  the  wills  of  ghosts.  Our  modern 
savages  are  in  this  same  frame  of  mind,  and  show  neither 
surprise  nor  wonder  at  anything  that  occurs.  To  them,  our 
telephones  and  telegraphs,  railway-trams,  and  machinery 
of  all  kinds,  are  as  simple  and  understandable  as  is  the 
shooting  of  an  arrow  from  their  bow.  Their  belief  in 
magic  by  ghost-power  is  thorough,  unwavering  and  radical. 
It  no  more  occurs  to  them  to  question  this  than  it  does  to 
us  to  question  that  twice  two  is  equal  to  four.  Their  only 
cause  of  wonder  is  the  occasional  failure  of  civilized  man 
to  do  some  miraculous  thing  they  think  he  should  be  able 
to  do  by  his  magic. 

This  way  of  thinking  keeps  savages,  and  kept  primitive 
man,  in  incessant  and  abject  terror  of  the  forces  of  Nature, 

*CopYKiGHT,  1890,  by  James  H.  West. 


134  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

and  made  them  the  dupes  of  every  miracle-monger  that 
came  along.  The  dangerous,  and  to  them  evil,  forces  were 
the  objects  of  their  worship.  They  did  not  consider  it  good 
policy  to  worship  a  good  god,  as  he  would  be  good  to  them 
anyway.  The  evil  powers  were  therefore  the  ones  pro- 
pitiated at  first.  Wlien  a  person  became  sick,  it.  was  taken 
at  once  to  be  a  case  of  obsession.  One  or  more  evil  spirits 
were  supposed  to  have  taken  possession  of  him.  How  to 
drive  the  bad  ghosts  out  was  the  problem  they  set  before 
themselves  to  solve.*  Of  course  they  had  to  resort  to  the 
priests  for  help  in  all  such  cases.  Thus  it  is,  that  the 
earliest  historical  records  tell  only  of  ecclesiastical  phy- 
sicians, and  their  treatment  consisted  solely  of  charms, 
prayers  or  incantations,  coupled  of  course  with  some  rich 
offering  to  the  gods.f  With  the  differentiations  of  theology 
came  corresponding  changes  in  the  theory  of  disease  and 
its  treatment.  When  one  good  God,  and  a  devil  with  a 
host  of  minor  evil  spirits,  came  to  be  believed  in,  the  notion 
arose  that  sickness  was  due  to  sin.|  It  was  considered 
that  God  was  meting  out  justice  to  the  sick.  Then  repent- 
ance was  preached  as  a  saving  grace,  and  prayer  as  the 
talisman  to  recovery.  Written  prayers  were  fastened 
around  the  diseased  part,  and  the  sign  of  the  cross  or  other 
religious  sign  drawn  over  the  same  as  a  charm.  By  thus 
pleasing  God,  they  were  siipposed  to  be  removing  them- 
selves from  the  buffetings  of  Satan.  When  they  failed  to 
rally  after  this,  they  were  thought  to  be  very  wicked  indeed, 
and  as  God  continued  to  curse  them  it  was  impious  for  man 
to  be  kind  to  them. 

Under  idolatry  and  fetishism,  remedies  of  a  simple  char- 
acter were  resorted  to.  Under  Christianity  and  the  strict 
sects  of  the  Hebrews,  the  resort  to  therapeutic  measures 
was  considered  a  lack  of  faith  in  God.  The  fetish-wor- 
shipor  began  his  use  of  remedies  as  a  logical  sequence  of 
his  faith.  The  Hebrew  and  Christian  rejected  them  on  the 
same  ground. §  The  former  believed  that  there  were  souls 
to  all  objects,  dead  as  well  as  living.  Some  souls  were  bad 
and  some  good.  I?ad  souls  made  disease,  and  good  ones 
health.  They  held  that  what  was  eaten  imparted  its  soul, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  to  the  eater.     Cowards  ate  the  lion's 

*  I^ul)l)<)i'k'H  Orijjin  of  Civiliziition,  p.  19. 

t  American  Cycloija'dia,  word  "Medicine." 

t.Iol),  dial).  '1,  V.  7,  clia]).  l."),  v.  2(1;  .loliii,  cliai).  0,  v.  2. 

§  James,  cnai).  5,  v.  14,  15. 


The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  135 

flesh  to  gain  bravery,  and  his  bones  for  strength.  Weak 
stomachs  were  supposed  to  be  cured  by  eating  strong  ones. 
People  with  short  breath  expected  improvement  from  eat- 
ing foxes,  that  were  believed  to  have  long  breath.  Only 
women  were  allowed  to  eat  deer-flesh,  as  it  made  them  faint- 
hearted. New-Zealanders  make  baptised  children  swallow 
pebbles,  to  make  them  hard-hearted  and  incapable  of  pity.* 

Thus  at  the  very  dawn  of  knowledge,  and  among  all 
savages,  the  medical  doctrine  is  that  similars  cure  similars. 
When  very  bad  spirits  were  supposed  to  be  in  possession 
of  a  patient,  they  fought  them  out  with  bad  odors  or  very 
abominable  doses.  It  was  still  the  same  "  similia  similihus 
curantur.''  What  the  Ptolemaic  system  and  astrology  were 
to  astronomy,  this  doctrine  has  been  to  medicine.  Every 
child  has  as  natural  a  trend  to  this  belief  as  it  has  to  believ- 
ing that  the  earth  is  flat  and  stationary.  All  barbarous 
and  savage  people  in  every  age  have  harbored  it  as  they 
have  other  superstitions.  In  fact,  it  is  a  strictly  logical 
superstitious  deduction.  As  such,  of  course,  it  must  con- 
tain, somehow  or  somewhere,  a  soul  of  truth.  It  certainly 
has  been  of  incalculable  advantage  to  the  race,  in  leading 
to  experiments  that  laid  the  foundations  of  Science.  Very 
often  it  must  have  proven  successful  by  causing  vomiting 
or  catharsis  to  ensue,  or  a  critical  sweat  to  be  established. 

Upon  the  facts  thus  garnered,  the  philosophers  began  to 
work,  and  we  find  the  disciples  of  Pythagoras  going  out 
and  visiting  the  sick  at  their  homes.  Before  this,  when 
the  priests  held  rule,  the  sick  had  to  be  carried  to  the 
temples  where  they  were.  All  the  progress  made  in  Med- 
ical Science  from  this  time  onward  was  by  battling  priests 
of  every  kind.  Each  new  accretion  has  been  a  survival  in 
a  most  intense  struggle  for  existence.!  Hippocrates,  in  tlie 
fifth  century  before  Christ,  gives  us  a  systematic  statement 
of  what  was  known  up  to  this  time,  and  we  have  only  to 
take  succeeding  gains,  one  by  one,  to  see  how  truth  has 
always  been  challenged  for  its  credentials.  The  worst  part 
of  the  battle  has  been  in  behalf  of  anatomy  and  physiol- 
ogy— the  corner-stones  of  the  Science  —  and  it  continues 
in  some  countries  to  this  day.  For  ages,  the  dissection  of 
a  human  body  was  an  act  considered  so  sacrilegious  that 
murder  was  looked  upon  as  less  heinous.    There  are  people 


*  Lubbock's  Origin  of  Civilization,  p.  13. 
t  Warfare  of  Science,  pp.  77  to  92. 


136  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

living  now  who  can  remember  when  a  man  was  likely  to  be 
lynched,  in  this  country,  if  it  was  known  that  he  had  taken 
part  in  the  dissection  of  a  human  body. 

The  only  speck  of  sunshine  for  progressive  Medicine, 
over  a  period  of  thousands  of  years,  was  wlien  the  Ptol- 
emies founded  and  cared  for  the  Alexandrian  library,  allow- 
ing human  dissections,  and  encouraging  the  importation  of 
all  sorts  of  remedies  from  every  part  of  the  earth.  Then 
arose  a  large  number  of  able  anatomists  and  physicians, 
who  added  extensively  to  human  knowledge  and  redeemed 
the  Art  of  Medicine  from  the  region  of  downright  super- 
stition.* But  while  Egypt  was  thus  basking  in  the  light 
of  Science,  Rome  was  depending  upon  charms  and  incanta- 
tions to  heal  her  sick.  At  every  epidemic  they  built  a 
temple  to  pacify  the  supposed  angry  gods.  Soon,  however, 
they  borrowed  from  their  more  fortunate  neighbors  much 
of  their  skill  and  knowledge.  Celsus  has  shown  us  that 
this  was  really  no  beggarly  amount.  They  were  able  to 
perform  operations  for  hernia,  calculus,  intestinal  wounds, 
and  cataract.  They  could  use  the  catheter,  trephine,  lig- 
ature severed  arteries,  and  remove  hemorrhoids.  They 
used  lead  plaster  for  the  same  purposes  as  we  do  to-day, 
and  employed  opium  as  successfully  in  curing  dysentery. 
About  this  time,  too,  some  cathartics  had  been  discovered. 
A  generation  later,  Galen  compiled  the  medical  knowledge 
of  the  times,  after  which  an  era  of  darkness  set  in,  Avhen 
men's  minds  were  frozen  into  set  forms  for  twelve  hundred 
years.  Christianity,  such  as  it  then  was,  soon  became  a 
power  in  the  land,  and  it  was  the  sworn  foe  to  medical 
progress.  It  was  willing  enougli,  usually,  to  accept  acquired 
facts,  l)ut  no  new  ones  were  allowed  to  be  promulgated,  nor 
etforts  made  to  discover  them.  As  the  Bible  was  the  only 
guide  in  matters  theological,  so  Galen  became  the  sole 
authority  in  matters  medical.  To  dare  to  differ  from  Galen 
Avas  to  raise  a  similar  tempest  to  daring  to  differ  from  Christ. 
Dissecting  human  bodies,  under  Paganism,  was  a  niis- 
tlemeanor ;  under  Christianity  it  became  the  most  horrible 
of  crimes.  From  time  to  time  the  church  would  rise  iip  in 
arms  against  medical  men  because  of  some  new  discovery. 
Then  all  medicine  would  for  a  season  be  denrnmced.  The 
doctors  were  charged  witli  sorcery  and  unhiwi'ul  com])act 
with  the  devil,  crimes  ])uiiisliable  by  burning  at  the  stake. f 


*  rcters'  I'ictorial  History  of  Ancient  riiarniucy.  !>.  is. 
t  White's  Warfare  of  Science,  \i.  77. 


The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  137 

In  1243,  the  Dominicans  solemnly  interdicted  every  member 
of  their  order  from  the  study  of  medicine.  About  the  same 
time,  the  popes  ordered  all  medical  books  from  the  mon- 
asteries, and  forbade  their  study.  Petrarch  called  the 
doctors,  "  Men  who  deny  Genesis  and  bark  at  Christ."* 
They  were  called  Atheists,  Mohammedans,  Sorcerers,  Magi- 
cians, and  all  other  titles  likely  to  embitter  the  ignorant 
and  superstitious  against  them.  As  late  as  1722,  the  Eev. 
Edward  Massey  said  that  diseases  are  sent  by  Providence 
for  the  punishment  of  sin,  and  the  attempt  to  prevent  them 
is  a  "diabolical  operation." 

During  all  this  dark  period  the  only  valuable  gains  made 
were  borrowed  from  the  Mohammedans.  Avicenna,  an 
Arabian,  taught  us  how  to  use  colchicum  for  gout,  iron  for 
anaemia,  and  rhubarb  in  dysentery.  To  him  we  are  indebted 
for  cassia,  senna,  manna,  tamarinds,  and  camphor.  We  here 
see  why  doctors  were  called  "  Mohammedans,"  a  term  that 
then  was  worse  than  burglar  or  thief  is  to-day. 

In  the  loth  century,  a  number  of  bold  spirits  defied  the 
popular  prejudice  so  far  as  to  dissect  bodies  privately. 
Some  were  caught  and  severely  punished.  In  the  16th 
century,  more  of  it  still  was  done,  in  defiance  of  law,  but 
privately,  of  course.  Strange  to  say,  however,  even  these 
men  could  not  divorce  themselves  from  subserviency  to 
Galen.  Whatever  they  found  disagreeing  with  his  descrip- 
tion was  set  down  as  due  to  human  degeneracy.  The  body 
not  being  just  as  Galen  described  it,  it  must  have  changed. 
Galen  could  not  be  mistaken. f  It  is  ever  thus,  in  progress 
from  superstition  to  truth.  The  majority  take  the  popular 
side,  whether  right  or  wrong.  Nor  can  they  be  blamed  for 
this.  As  a  rule  it  is  the  side  of  the  greatest  safety.  Dis- 
sentients, in  defending  a  solitary  fragment  of  truth,  are 
more  likely  than  not  to  discard  the  accumulated  experiences 
of  the  race,  making  that  fragment  do  duty  for  the  whole. 
The  men  and  women  that  are  able  honestly  to  weigh  facts, 
and  be  guided  solely  thereby,  are,  in  every  age,  few  and  far 
between.  Hence  it  is,  as  a  rule,  safer  to  err  on  the  side  of 
conservatism  than  on  that  of  so-called  radicalism.  In  spite 
of  this,  we  cannot  help  wishing  that  there  had  been  more, 
and  more  pronounced,  radicals  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  theological  nightmare  of  those  times,  especially  in 


♦Ibid,  pp.  100  to  108. 

t  Amencan  Cyclopaedia,  word  "Medicine." 


138  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

Christian  countries,  is  somewhat  appalling.  Medical  Sci- 
ence was  held  by  it  as  in  an  iron  vice.  Escape  was  impos- 
sible. To  be  brought  face  to  face  with  the  crass  ignorance, 
and  horrible  medical  superstitions,  then  indulged  in,  is  — 
well,  frankly,  it  is  nauseating,  and  very  apt  to  seriously 
disturb  delicate  stomachs.  Nor  need  we  go  back  much  over 
a  century  to  find  it,  since  the  awakening  is  of  very  recent 
occurrence.  For  instance,  take  "Helmont's  Amulet  for  the 
Plague,"  which  sober,  sensible — yes,  sensible,  as  sensibility 
went  in  those  days  —  medical  men  of  good  standing  en- 
dorsed, declaring  that  it  had  "  proven  its  efficacy  in  many 
instances"  (I  am  quoting  their  own  words),  "particularly 
during  the  war  between  the  Imperialists  and  Regulars  in 
Hungary,  where  the  plague  raged  in  a  terrible  manner.  It 
gained  such  a  reputation  throughout  the  country  that  all 
barbers  and  blear-eyed  witches  are  already  acquainted  with 
its  virtues."  *  The  recipe  was  so  highly  esteemed  among 
the  leading  medical  men  of  the  times  that  it  occupied  a 
prominent  place  in  a  Pharmacopoeia  of  1731,  and  was 
endorsed  by  the  College  of  Physicians  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Prussia.  Here  is  the  delectable  recipe  :  "  Large,  old  frogs, 
caught  in  the  month  of  June,  are  hung  up  by  their  hind 
legs  over  a  dish  covered  with  wax,  which  has  been  placed 
over  a  moderate  fire.  After  a  few  days,  the  frogs  discharge 
horrible  fumes  and  slaver,  which  attract  every  kind  of 
worms  and  flies.  These  stick  to  the  wax  and  add  their  own 
drivel  to  the  mess.  When  the  frogs  are  dead,  roast  and 
mix  them  with  the  carefully  preserved  mixture  of  wax  and 
drivel,  and  shape  this  compound  into  small  rolls,  or  imitate 
the  shapes  of  frogs.  One  of  these  is  sewn  into  a  cloth, 
and  worn  in  the  region  of  the  heart,  suspended  by  a  silk 
thread  around  the  neck.  The  longer  one  wears  these,  the 
more  certainly  will  he  be  protected  from  the  ravages  of  the 
plague."  t 

In  1G63,  Bechler's  "Parnassus  Medicinalis  Illustratus" 
contained,  among  other  equally  quaint  yet  loathsome  ther- 
apeutics, the  following:  "Powdered  human  bone  in  red 
wine  will  cure  dysentery.  The  marrow  and  oil  distilled 
from  bone  is  good  for  rheumatism.  Prepared  human  skull 
is  a  sure  cure  for  the  falling  sickness.  Moss  grown  on  a  skull 
is  a  haemostatic.     ]\rummy  dissolves  coagulated  blood,  ro- 

*New  KntrUmd  Druggist,  March,  1889.  p.  12. 

t  I'eters'  Pictorial  History-  of  Ancient  I'luinnacy,  pp.  1'2«,  ILX.i;  New  England 
Druggist,  March,  1«8'J,  pp.  12,  l.J. 


The  Evolutioii  of  Medical  Science.  139 

lieves  cough,  etc.  .  .  .  Human  fat,  when  properly  rubbed 
into  the  skin,  restores  weak  limbs.  Water  distilled  from 
human  hair,  and  mixed  with  honey,  promotes  the  growth 
of  hair,"  etc.  The  druggists  at  this  time  kept  in  stock,  for 
the  compounding  of  physicians'  prescriptions,  the  excreta 
of  human  beings  and  animals,  spirit  of  human  skull,  spirit 
of  human  bones,  human  fat,  "poor  sinner's  fat,"  wolf-liver^ 
fox-lung,  deer-spine,  pike's-jaw,  rabbit-hair,  gallstones,  scor- 
pion and  centipede  ashes,* 

"With  more  of  horrible  and  awful, 
That  even  to  name  would  be  unlawful." 

To  this  day,  a  branch  of  the  Homeopathic  school  prescribes 
just  such  remedies,  and  they  can  be  purchased  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  high  potency  homeopathic  specifics,  No.  13 
W.  38th  St.,  New  York  City.  I  give  the  address,  lest  some 
skeptical  person  should  doubt  the  reliability  of  the  state- 
ment.f  Originally,  however,  they  were  given  in  large 
doses,  but  now  in  infinitessimal  ones. 

At  the  time  these  remedies  were  so  popular,  the  Jesuit 
priests  introduced  from  South  America  the  bark  of  the 
Cinchona  tree,  for  the  cure  of  malarial  diseases.  Protestant 
Europe  rose  up  in  arms  against  it,  and  stigmatized  it  as 
"Jesuit  Bark."  Blood-curdling  stories  of  its  poisonous 
and  destructive  effects  were  told,  and  these,  in  modified 
form,  have  been  handed  down  from  sire  to  son  until  the 
present  day.  Scarcely  a  month  ago,  a  patient  of  mine 
refused  to  take  quinine,  because  it  was  the  poisonous  ex- 
tract of  Jesuit  bark.  Ever  since  charms  and  prayers  Avere 
replaced  by  therapeutic  measures,  men  have  striven  to  dis- 
cover specifics  for  diseases.  The  majority  of  laymen  to-day 
think  that  doctors  have  such  specifics.  In  "Jesuit  Bark" 
and  its  alkaloid,  quinine,  we  have  about  the  nearest  ap- 
proach ever  reached  to  such  a  thing  as  a  specific  in  medicine, 
and  yet  theological  bigotry  in  disguised  form  causes  hun- 
dreds of  sufferers  to  refuse  to  use  it.  Doctors  are  compelled, 
in  such  cases,  to  hide  the  name  under  some  foreign  synonym, 
so  that  their  patients  shall  not  know  that  they  are  swallowing, 
in  not  only  harmless  but  really  useful  doses,  this  drug. 
Our  fathers  condemned  it,  and  lied  about  it,  merely  because 
Catholic  Priests  first  brought  it  to  notice  ;  but  they  did  not 

♦Ibid. 

t  Druggist's  Circular,  June,   1888,  p.   124;   Medical  Advance,  March,  1889, 
Advertisement. 


140  The  JEvolution  of  Medical  Science. 

hesitate  to  swallow  their  own  and  other  human  beings'  and 
animals'  filth,  or  decoctions  from  skulls  gathered  from 
graveyards.  Cinchona,  in  spite  of  theological  ire,  has 
proven  itself  fit,  and  survived;  the  other  remedies  were 
unfit,  and  only  persist  in  modified  forms  and  obscure  places 
because  superstition  is  not  yet  dead  in  the  earth. 

The  fetish  idea  that  led  up  to  such  abominable  forms  of 
medical  treatment,  on  the  theory  that  like  cures  like  or  sim- 
ilar cures  similar,  was  modified  from  time  to  time,  with 
fashions  in  theological  thought.  The  doctrine  of  "  signa- 
tures "  was  an  outgrowth  of  this  kind.  God  in  his  good- 
ness had  not  left  man  to  grope  his  way  in  darkness  in  med- 
ical matters,  they  taught.  He  had  put  his  sign  on  every 
remedy,  so  that  anyone  could  easily  discover  it.  Similar  to 
the  symptoms  of  the  disease,  or  to  the  organ  diseased, 
somewhere  could  be  found  a  mark  or  appearance  in  the 
plants  or  things  God  designed  we  should  use  as  cures.  You 
will  observe  it  is  still  the  old  formula  of  fetishism,  of 
"similia  similibus  curantur,"  but  it  has  taken  on  a  Chris- 
tian covering.  Paracelsus  was  the  latest  champion  of  this 
form.* 

Many  of  the  old  remedies,  that  are  quite  worthless,  stick 
by  us  still  as  family-lieirlooms.  ]ilood-root,  having  a  red 
juice  like  blood,  was  considered  good  for  the  blood.  Liver- 
wort, having  a  leaf  like  the  liver,  cures  diseased  livers. 
Eyebright,  having  a  spot  like  an  eye,  cures  bad  eyes.  Cel- 
andine, having  a  yellow  juice,  cures  jaundice.  Bug-gloss 
looks  like  a  snake's  head,  and  therefore  cures  snake-bite. 
Ked  flannel  looks  like  blood,  and  cures  blood  taints.  Hun- 
dreds to-day  refuse  to  wear  wliite  flannel,  which  is  in  every 
way  superior  so  far  as  health  is  concerned,  because  it  is  not 
"medicated."  Little  do  they  know  that  tliey  are  under  the 
thrall  of  the  silliest  kind  of  a  silly  su})erstition. 

This  notion  of  signatures,  wild  as  it  is,  led  to  decided 
improvement  in  medical  science,  by  precipitating  a  fight 
with  the  Orthodox  disciples  of  Galen,  and  leading  on  to  a 
long  series  of  experiments  in  therapeutics  and  chemistry. 
The  followers  of  raracelsus  did  not  confine  themselves  to 
drugs  of  vegetable  and  animal  origin,  but  went  on  trying 
minerals  as  well.  The  Galenites,  being  strongest,  had  laws 
enacted  forbidding  the  use  of  mineral  substances  in  med- 
icine.   Tlien  went  on  the  feud  tliat  has  left  its  mark  on  the 


'Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  1,  pp.  95  to  100. 


The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  141 

minds  of  many  people  to-day,  making  them  decline  to  use 
mineral  drugs  if  they  know  them  as  such.  It  is  really  a 
wonder  they  do  not  stop  drinking  water,  every  drop  of 
which  is  charged  with  minerals.  Salt,  too,  is  a  mineral. 
Why  do  they  take  it  ?  The  fact  is  that  they  could  not  live 
a  second  but  for  minerals.  The  mineral  iron  makes  their 
blood  red ;  the  mineral  lime  constitutes  the  great  bulk  of 
their  bones  ;  the  mineral  phosphorus  supplies  the  thinking 
power  of  their  brains ;  the  poisonous  mineral,  muriatic  acid, 
helps  digest  the  food  in  their  stomachs ;  the  minerals  soda 
and  potash  help  digest  the  fatty  parts  of  their  food. 

When  antagonistic  medical  parties  could  not  find  theolog- 
ical grounds  for  a  fight,  they  usually  resorted  to  the  cry  of 
"poison  !"  Even  now,  in  this  19th  Century,  that  word  has 
a  terror  to  most  people,  worse  than  that  of  "mad  dog."  It 
never  seems  to  occur  to  them  that  it  is  a  purely  relational 
term.  Viewed  one  way,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  poison. 
Viewed  another  way,  everything  is  poisonous.  Weight  for 
weight,  and  equally  compressed,  the  oxygen  of  the  air  is  the 
most  deadly  poison  known  to  man.  A  troy  ounce  of  oxygen 
will  kill  more  men,  and  in  quicker  time,  than  a  troy  ounce  of 
any  other  known  substance,  unless  it  is  the  new  alkaloid  lately 
discovered  and  called  strophanthine.*  Yet  we  cannot  live 
without  using  it.  In  proper  quantity  it  is  a  necessity  of 
life.  Muriatic  acid  is  a  deadly,  corrosive  poison,  and  this, 
too,  is  necessary  to  our  existence,  being  supplied  to  our 
system  in  the  form  of  salt.  As  salt,  its  work  is  not  done, 
however.  Too  much  heat  will  burn  and  destroy  us,  and  too 
little  will  freeze  and  destroy,  while  the  proper  proportion 
aids  health  and  life ;  so,  too  much  or  too  little  of  any  and 
all  substances  that  exist  acts  in  the  same  manner.  Of 
some  we  need  more,  and  of  others  less,  to  maintain  health. 
Within  the  proper  amount,  nothing  is  poisonous.  Out  of 
the  proper  amount,  everything  is  poisonous. 

This  is  the  truth  that  has  evolved  out  of  the  fight  be- 
tween the  disciples  of  Paracelsus  and  Galen.  In  both 
of  these  camps,  skepticism  in  time  began  to  spread  as  to 
the  truth  of  the  formula  that  similar  cures  similar.  Slowly 
there  grew  a  tendency,  never,  however,  definitely  expressed, 
to  a  belief  that  the  reverse  was  true ;  i.  e.,  that  Nature's 
method  was  "  contrai'ia  contrariis  curantvr.^^  Such  was  the 
condition  of  things  Avhen,  in  1789,  Hahnemann  began  his 

*  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  11,  p.  328. 


142  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

translation  of  Cullen's  Materia  Medica  from  English  into 
German,  and  when  his  mind  reverted  back  to  the  fetish- 
system  of  therapeutics.  He  believed  he  saw  a  similarity- 
be  tween  disease-symtoms  and  the  effects  on  healthy  persons 
of  such  drugs  as  benefited  them  in  such  diseases. 

Now  began  another  therapeutic  war,  that  has  scarcely 
yet  died  out.  The  regular  army  never  asserted  any  special 
therapeutic  doctrine  in  opposition  to  homeopathy.  The 
rebellious  deserters  affirmed  the  universality  of  what  they 
were  pleased  to  call  the  law  of  similars.*  They  nick-named 
their  opponents  Allopaths,  although  they  knew  the  title  to 
be  false.  There  never  has  been  an  organized  body  of  men 
believing  in  Allopathy,  and  no  one  knows  this  better  than 
homeopathic  doctors.  Eegular  physicians  to-day  all  know 
that  some  drugs  do  act  as  if  in  accordance  with  the  homeo- 
pathic shibboleth.  They  also  know  that  others  act  in  just 
the  contrary  way.  Small  doses  of  ipecac  will  check  nausea. 
That  is  Homeopathy.  Large  doses  of  Rochello  Salts  will 
check  constipation.  That  is  Allopathy.  Sulphur  will 
arrest  the  itch.  That  is  neither  Homeopathy  nor  Allopathy. 
Regular  doctors  use  all  these  remedies,  taking  such  as  ex- 
perience proves  to  be  good,  whatever  the  theory  by  which 
they  act.f  Homeopaths  of  late  have  been  doing  the  same, 
and  their  very  best  men  are  pointing  out  the  dishonesty 
and  folly  of  adhering  any  longer  to  the  title,  since  it  has 
become  merely  a  means  of  deluding  the  ignorant  public. 
The  future  must  give  Hahnemann  credit  for  sounding  the 
deatli-knell  of  polypharmacy  and  excessive  dosage ;  but  he 
will  derive  no  honor  for  reviving  exclusive  Homeopathy, 
which  is  merely  a  modified  reversion  to  fetishism.  The 
progress  of  Bacteriology  is  fast  putting  an  end  to  such 
narrowly  limited  views,  and  this  is  aided  by  the  light  shed 
by  Evolution  on  the  problems  of  Pathology,  t 

Modern  therapeutics  takes  note  of  the  fact  that  both  sim- 
ilars and  dissimilars  are  equally  efficient,  and  that  therefore 
Allo])athy  and  Homeopatliy  only  partially  express  the  tinith 
that  is  at  once  both  and  yet  neither.     Electropathy,  Hydro- 

*  In  the  discuKsion  which  followed  the  lecture,  Dr.  W.  S.  Searle  asserted  that 
Homeopathy  is  a  scientific  system  of  medicine.  No  method  can  claim  to  he 
scientific,  he  declared,  which  remains  a  mere  undigested  accumulation  of 
empirical  facts.  Science  only  becomes  such  when  we  have  discovered  the  un- 
derlying law  which  determines  the  character  and  relationship  of  the  facts.  All 
such  laws  are  universal,  and  such  a  law  of  cure  Homeopathy  claims  to  have 
discovered.    The  jjroof  lies  in  its  practical  results  for  seventy  years. 

tStille's  Therai>eutics,  vol.  1,  ji.  .'W. 

i  American  Naturalist,  vol.  18,  pp.  1  to  i). 


The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  143 

pathy,  and  a  host  of  other  pathies,  each  contains  partial 
views  of  truth,  and  all  are  taught  to-day  at  our  leading 
medical  colleges. 

At  last  we  begin  to  see  the  great  general  principles  gov- 
erning the  actions  of  drugs.  Foster,  in  his  Physiology, 
points  out  four : 

"  1st.     By  dilating  the  blood-vessels  and  increasing  the 

blood  supply. 
"  2nd.     By  acting  as  a  direct  chemical  stimulus  on  the 

protoplasm. 
"3rd.     By  exciting  secretion  in  the  cell  through  reflex 

action  of  the  nervous  mechanism  belonging  to  the 

cell. 
"4th.     By  acting   directly  on   the   nervous    centers    of 

that  mechanism."* 

To  these  might  be  added  their  specific  effects  in  destroying 
germs,  their  anaesthetic  effects  in  deadening  feeling,  their 
chemical  effects  in  aiding  digestive  action,  their  osmotic 
effects  in  aiding  secretion  and  excretiouj  etc. 

Only  within  a  century  has  true  growth  gone  on  at  any 
decent  rate.  New  and  valuable  drugs  have  multiplied 
through  the  services  of  chemistry,  till  now  we  can  accom- 
plish results  that  the  men  of  a  generation  ago  would  view 
with  astonishment.  Within  ten  years  some  of  the  best 
discoveries  for  easing  pain,  relieving  fever,  and  curing 
various  forms  of  disease,  have  appeared,  and  most  of  them 
are  prepared  synthetically,  in  the  chemist's  laboratory. 
Had  bigotry  and  intolerance  not  interfered  with  the  prog- 
ress in  medicine  during  the  long  dark  epoch  lying  between 
the  Empiricists  of  Alexandria  and  the  Scientific  Physicians 
of  the  19th  Century,  millions  on  millions  of  lives  might 
have  been  saved,  and  billions  on  billions  of  hours  of  human 
agony  quenched.  Where  we  now  are,  they  should  have 
been,  long  before  the  time  of  Avicenna.f  We  would  then 
have  been  where  our  children  of  a  thousand  years  to  come 
will  be. 

In  this  hasty  retrospective  view  of  the  development  of 
Medical  Science,  you  will  observe  that  only  the  linear  path 
of  Therapeutics  has  been  followed.  We  have  traced  the 
tree  from  its  base  to  its  apex,  only  incidentally  referring  to 

•Peters'  Physiology,  p.  3C1. 
t  Warfare  of  Science,  p.  W. 


144  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

some  of  its  branches.  Evolution,  however,  as  you  are  aware, 
is  differentiation.  To  early  man,  therapeutics  was  all  there 
was  of  Medicine.  Practically,  to  most  people  in  our  own 
day  this  is  equally  true.  To  medical  men,  on  the  contrary, 
the  vastness  of  the  branches  is  almost  appalling. 

Quite  early,  surgery  began  to  differentiate,  and  cases 
that  primitive  ignorance  thought  to  be  curable  by  medica- 
tion were  found  to  give  way  only  to  an  operation.  Steadily 
have  such  cases  multiplied,  and  with  the  progress  of  knowl- 
edge more  and  more  of  such  are  discovered.  Surgery  itself 
has  given  off  numerous  branches  to  the  care  of  specialists, 
until  important  facts  have  so  multiplied  that  no  living  man 
can  longer  master  them.  At  a  very  early  date  surgery 
gave  birth  to  anatomy  as  a  distinct  branch  of  science,  and 
the  bad  treatment  this  received  at  the  hands  of  theology 
has  already  been  referred  to.  Galen  tells  us  that  the  first 
cultivators  of  anatomy  constituted  a  distinct  social  caste.* 
They  never  wrote  out  discovered  facts,  but  kept  them 
within  their  own  families  by  tradition.  In  his  day,  much 
knowledge  had  been  acquired,  thanks  to  the  liberality  of 
the  earlier  Egyptians.  They  had  not,  however,  up  to  this 
time,  been  able  distinctly  to  distinguish  muscles  from 
nerves  in  their  various  finer  ramifications.  They  knew 
that  the  great  nerves  of  sensation  came  from  the  brain. 
They  knew  the  principal  bones,  muscles  and  viscera.  They 
did  not  know  of  the  solar  plexus  and  its  system  of  nerves. 

The  study  of  anatomy  gave  birth  to  physiology  as  a  nat- 
ural sequence.  Errors  in  the  former,  led  to  the  wildest 
kind  of  conclusions  in  the  latter.  Until  the  discovery  of 
the  relations  of  veins  and  arteries  to  eacli  other  and  to  the 
heart,  but  little  that  could  be  dignified  by  tlie  title  of 
science  was  possible  here.  Through  all  the  dark  years  of 
Galen's  supremacy  this  discovery  was  not  made.  Mondino 
in  1315,  came  near  it.  Vesalius,  in  the  middle  of  the  16th 
Century,  traced  them  out ;  and  for  telling  the  world  that 
Galen  blundered  he  was  persecuted  most  mercilessly,  but 
fortunately  escaped  tlie  fate  of  liis  contemporary  Servetus, 
part  of  whose  heresy  was  the  sanie.t  Poor  Servetus  was 
a  heretic  to  Christ  as  well  as  to  Galen,  and  was  burnt  at 
the  stake  therefor.  Later  on,  Sylvius  discovered  the 
valves  of  the  veins,  and  their  absence  in  the  arteries,  while 


*  History  of  the  Inductive  Scieiices,  vol.  2,  p.  440. 
t  Opp.  Cit.,  pp,  445,  44«. 


The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  145 

Fabricus  showed  that  all  valves  were  turned  toward  the 
heart.  William  Harvey,  at  the  beginning  of  the  17th 
Century,  opened  upon  himself  the  flood-gates  of  theolog- 
ical abuse  by  making  a  remarkable  discovery,  while  ex- 
perimenting with  these  valves.  He  demonstrated  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  which  in  those  days  was  an  exceed- 
ingly impious  suggestion,  as  ic  showed  how  men  and 
animals  could  live  without  the  incessant  tinkering  of  the 
Almighty  to  keep  them  alive. 

From  this  point,  physiology  swept  grandly  on,  and  it 
was  aided  by  innumerable  discoveries  in  the  new  science 
of  Chemistry.  The  laws  of  digestion,  respiration,  secretion, 
excretion,  reproduction,  nervous  and  muscular  action,  mo- 
tions of  the  chjde,  etc.,  were  soon  discovered.  On  the 
establishment  of  Physiology,  Pathology  appeared,  and  the 
anatomical  lesions  of  disease  became  a  special  line  of  study. 
Each  new  branch,  as  it  came  forward,  reacted  upon  and 
aided  in  the  advancement  of  all  its  predecessors,  as  well  as, 
in  time,  of  its  successors.  Inflammation,  suppuration,  ex- 
travisation,  new  formation,  mal-circulation,  degeneration, 
and  kindred  topics,  were  studied  as  to  their  causes  and 
methods  of  cure.  This  gave  rise  first  to  Histology,  and 
afterwards  to  Bacteriology,  the  last  of  which  is  at  present 
making  a  great  deal  of  stir  in  the  earth.* 

I  have  not  stopped  along  the  way  to  show  how  therapeu- 
tics begat  JNIateria  Medica  and  Chemistry,  nor  how  they 
in  turn  evolved  Pharmacy ;  but  these,  and  many  more,  con- 
stitute branches  from  the  developing  tree.  Beginning  as 
an  indefinite,  incoherent  mass  of  chaotic  facts  and  fancies, 
slowly  it  has  grown  to  its  present  august  proportions,  vuitil 
it  now  appears  as  a  definite,  coherent  mass  of  useful  knowl- 
edge, ditt'erentiated  into  a  large  number  of  quite  distinct 
and  orderly  departments  of  science. 

Before  the  advent  of  the  last  named  branch,  the  race  had 
become  conscious  of  the  fact  that,  for  some  reason,  cleanli- 
ness was  necessary  to  comfort,  and  to  freedom  from  diseases 
of  a  contagious  character.  The  reason  was  quite  unknown. 
Plagues  and  pestilences  of  various  kinds  had  shown  a  sort 
of  aflinity  for  the  filthy,  and  while  the  scythe  of  death  did 
not  cut  quite  a  clean  swathe  along  such  a  line,  it  succeeded 
quite  well  for  an  approximation.     Our  deluded  forefathers 

*Vide  Cruikshank's  Practical  Bacteriology,  Sternberg's  Magnin,  Belfield's 
Jlicro-organisms,  etc. 


146  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

for  a  long  time  failed  to  see  this,  and  attributed  all  great 
epidemics  to  blasphemy,  infidelity,  and  various  forms  of 
religious  heresy.  Even  diseases  that  were  due  to  the 
universal  unchasteness  of  the  people  were  charged  to  blas- 
phemy, Sabbath-breaking  or  heresy.*  The  very  existence 
of  such  a  disease  in  an  epidemic  form  is  proof  to  us  to-day 
that  priests  and  people,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  were, 
on  a  grand  scale,  guilty  of  immorality  of  the  worst  type ; 
and  yet  they  blamed  God  for  sending  the  disease  as  a  pun- 
ishment for  their  not  keeping  the  Lord's  day  holy !  To 
prove  their  penitence,  they  built  hospitals  and  churches, 
dedicating  them  to  Saints,  and  prayers  ascended  in  public 
places  for  relief,  while  they  still  went  on  in  their  crime 
and  died  like  rotten  sheep. 

The  sanitary  condition  of  their  homes  is  scarcely  cred- 
itable. The  working-classes,  especially,  were  indescribably 
and  abominably  dirty.  Here,  for  instance,  is  a  pen-picture 
of  the  16th  and  17th  Century  homes  of  England,  as  given 
by  the  Editor  of  the  North  British  Review  many  years  ago  : 
"  In  times  gone  by,  and  even  later  than  Shakespeare's,  our 
floors  were  the  earth  only,  as  in  many  cottages  now,  and 
we  used  the  broom  or  brush  little,  and  threw  the  garbage 
down,  allowing  it  to  lie  and  rot  and  become  so  vile  that  we 
invented  the  device  of  covering  it  over  with  straw  so  that 
it  might  be  trodden  down,  as  the  cattle  make  the  manure 
in  the  straw-yards.  The  earth  of  the  floor  was  overweighed 
with  putrid  matter,  and  much  of  it  came  into  the  air  of  the 
room ;  but  the  formation  of  nitre,  or  saltpetre,  began,  and 
oxygen  accumulated  rapidly,  and  rendered  even  these  houses 
habitable  in  a  way."t  The  author  then  goes  on  to  tell 
how,  after  layer  upon  layer  had  been  piled  feet  deep,  and 
even  human  excreta  piled  in  abundance  in  the  mass,  soldiers 
would  be  sent  to  a  village  on  a  pleasant  day  to  compel  all 
tlie  inhabitants  to  go  into  the  open  air  while  they  cleaned 
out  their  pens  for  them.  By  lixiviating  this  mass  of  filth, 
they  got  the  saltpetre  to  make  their  gunpowder,  as  pay  for 
their  labor,  t  When  a  plague  came  upon  these  people  or 
their  cattle,  they  drew  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  the  doors, 
with  tar,  as  a  protection  to  the  inhabitants. 

With  the  development  of  chemical  knowledge.  Carbonic- 
acid  gas,  carbon  monoxide  and  sulphuretted  hydrogen  came 

•  Westeni  I)nip;tcist,  Jan.  15, 1890,  p.  r>. 
t  North  nritish  lleview,  vol.  44,  p.  4<i5. 
t  Ibid,  p.  447. 


The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  147 

in  for  blame  as  factors  in  the  causation  of  disease.  Sanitary 
science,  therefore,  began  its  development  along  this  line, 
and  fortunately,  although  the  actuating  ideas  proved  at  a 
later  date  to  be  in  the  main  erroneous,  they  led  on  to  actual 
progress.  The  laws  of  ventilation  were  thus  discovered, 
and  the  benefits  of  pure  air  came  to  be  appreciated.  Not, 
however,  until  bacteriology  evolved  into  a  distinct  depart- 
ment of  science,  did  we  have  clear  ideas  as  to  how  pure 
air  and  pure  water  operated  in  bringing  us  health.  Then 
the  mistakes  of  sanitarians,  during  what  we  may  for  con- 
venience call  the  Chemical  Era,  began  to  be  righted.  We 
discovered  that  chemically  and  mechanically  filthy  air,  and 
chemically  and  mechanically  filthy  water,  may  be  relatively 
almost  harmless,  while  air  and  water  that,  to  all  our  tests, 
would  seem  absolutely  pure,  might  deal  death  and  destruc- 
tion to  us.  The  old  rule  that  pure  air  and  pure  water  are 
necessities  for  the  maintenance  of  proper  health  still  holds 
good ;  but  we  now  see  that  there  are  apparent  exceptions 
that  even  seem  to  reverse  this  truth.  It  all  depends  upon 
the  nature  of  the  germs  present.  These  germs  are  minute, 
microscopic  plants  (not  animals),  which,  like  all  other  forms 
of  vegetable  life,  require  more  or  less  decomposing  materials 
to  grow  upon.*  Their  numbers,  kinds  and  natures  are 
legion.  Some  will  grow  on  acid,  but  not  on  alkaline  or 
neutral  soil.  Others  will  grow  on  alkaline  soil  only.  Still 
others  on  neutral.  Some  grow  at  very  high  temperatures, 
and  perish  at  low  ones.  Others  are  in  their  element  at  low 
temperatures,  and  die  at  high  ones.  All  sorts  of  poisonous 
solutions  have  special  kinds,  capable  of  maintaining  healthy 
growth  within  them. 

Anything  capable  of  killing  bacteria  of  all  kinds,  must 
necessarily  be  of  such  a  nature  as  will  kill  everything 
having  life.  The  adaptations  of  all  bacteria  cover  and  go 
beyond  every  adaptation  of  man,  so  that,  in  all  directions, 
man  must  be  killed  easier  than  bacteria  are.  This,  re- 
member, is  only  true  of  them  as  a  total.  Take  any  one 
kind,  and  man's  adaptations  transcend  its  own,  so  that  it 
is  much  easier  to  kill  it  than  man.  Of  the  innumerable 
kinds  known,  only  a  comparatively  small  number  are  able 
to  grow  in  or  upon  the  human  body  as  a  soil.  These  have 
their  choice  of  parts.  Some  like  to  grow  on  the  skin, 
while  others  prefer  mucous  membranes,  and  still  others  pre- 

♦  Cradle's  Germ  Theory  of  Disease,  p.  6. 


148  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

fer  other  tissues  of  the  body.  Of  those  that  are  found  in 
or  upon  the  human  body,  but  a  small  proportion  are  in  any 
way  responsible  for  disease.  These  we  distinguish  as 
pathogenic.  Of  all  pathogenic  micro-organisms  (or,  as  ab- 
breviated, microbes)  those  of  consumption  are  perhaps  the 
worst.*  Now  we  know  they  exist,  and  sanitary  science 
clearly  points  out  certain  duties  for  us  to  perform,  for  self- 
protection,  that  are  yet  sadly  neglected.  People  get  con- 
sumption only  by  contagion  from  consumptives.  It  is  not 
hereditary.  Weak  lungs  are  hereditary,  but  weak-lunged 
people,  kept  away  from  consumption-germs,  will  never  take 
the  disease,  even  if  their  fathers  and  mothers,  sisters  and 
brothers,  uncles  and  aunts  all  died  from  it.  If  they 
breathe  the  confined  air  of  the  consumptive's  room,  they 
will  take  it ;  if  they  eat  under-cooked  meat  from  consump- 
tive cattle,  they  will  take  it ;  and  if  they  drink  milk  from 
consumptive  cows  they  are  likely  to  take  it.  If  their  con- 
sumptive friends  spit  indiscriminately  around,  and  the 
sputa  drys  and  is  wafted  into  the  air  for  them  to  breathe, 
tluey  will  take  it.  Sanitary  Science  demands  the  burning 
of  the  consumptive's  spittle,  the  boiling  of  all  doubtful 
milk,  and  thorough  cooking  of  all  doubtful  meat,  and  tlie 
perfect  ventilation  and  thorough  cleaning  of  walls,  ceilings 
and  floors,  of  all  rooms  once  occupied  by  consumptives, 
with  deluges  of  water. 

The  pathogenic  microbes  of  typhoid-fever  bear  some  re- 
semblance to  those  of  consumption.  They  develop  in 
glands  of  the  intestines  known  as  Feyer's  glands.  The 
only  source  of  contagion  from  such  patients  is  in  their  de- 
jecta. In  country  places,  this  disease  is  spread  by  the 
spores  being  washed  through  the  soil  from  their  outdoor 
closets  down  into  the  underground  streams  of  water  that 
supply  their  wells.  Xut  only  typhoid-fever  germs,  but 
Asiatic  cholera,  the  summer  cholera  of  children,  and  a 
large  number  of  minor  ailments  cliaracterized  by  diarrheas, 
are  propagated  in  the  same  way.  Country  farmers,  in 
watering  the  milk  of  city  customers,  send  these  diseases 
into  the  city  through  this  channel.  This  is  another  reason 
why  milk  of  unknown  origin  should  be  boiled  before 
drinking. 

In  large  cities,  the  outdoor-closet  nuisance  is  abated,  and 
the  bath-room  closet    tak(>s  its  place.     Here    a  system  of 

*  Cruikshiiiik'a  IJactoriology,  p.  l.V.l. 


The  Evolutio7i  of  Medical  Science.  149 

sewerage  connects  miles  of  houses  together,  and  the  germs 
of  intestinal  diseases  in  abundance  find  their  way  from 
house  to  house,  unless  the  plumbers  have  done  their  work 
faithfully  and  well.  I  say  the  germs  of  disease  do  this. 
Scientifically,  I  mean  the  spores  or  seeds  of  such  germs  as 
develop  in  this  manner.  The  term  germs,  of  course,  is 
here  used  as  synonymous  with  micro-organisms.  Sanitary 
science  insists  upon  an  arrangment  of  closet,  bath  and 
wash-basin  pipes  that  will  allow  no  back  pressure  of  gas 
from  the  sewer  to  force  its  way  into  the  house  and  carry 
such  spores.*  Sewer-gas  is  not  always  deadly  or  seriously 
dangerous.  This  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  men  work  in 
it  from  week  to  week  without  impairment  of  health. f  It 
is  always  injurious  to  some  constitutions,  and  is  sometimes 
so  to  a  large  number  of  people.  The  less  of  it,  therefore, 
that  enters  a  house,  whether  disease-laden  or  not,  the  better 
for  the  average  health  of  the  community. 

Scarlet-fever  germs  come  from  milk,  are  carried  in 
clothes,  toys,  money,  books,  newspapers,  etc.  Dogs,  cats, 
and  birds,  are  now  charged  with  transmitting  them. 
Measles,  smallpox,  whooping-cough,  and  kindred  diseases, 
journey  from  patient  to  patient  in  similar  ways.  Bed-bugs 
are  probably  very  active  carriers  of  contagious  diseases. 
Many  investigators  are  strongly  inclined  to  blame  mos- 
quitoes for  transmitting  intermittent  and  remittent  fevers. 
You  all  know  the  sticky  and  transmissable  character  of 
lamp-black  formed  by  a  smoky  lamp.  You  get  it  on  your 
fingers  first,  and  soon  somebody  observes  a  speck  on  your 
face.  It  is  next  borne  to  your  clothing,  and,  whenever  two 
surfaces  touch,  if  one  has  it,  the  other  gets  a  little.  Dis- 
ease-microbes are  like  this,  —  an  impalpable  powder  that 
every  breath  of  air  can  blow  and  every  contact  of  svirfaces 
divide.  Hand  gives  them  up  to  hand,  coat  to  coat,  lips  to 
lips,  and  even  the  points  of  the  finest  needles  are  fre- 
quently laden  with  and  transmit  them  to  the  cloth  sewn. 
So  small  are  they  that  thousands  in  a  single  pile  cannot  be 
seen  by  the  naked  eye.  As  one  grain  of  wheat  will,  in  a 
season,  produce  fifty  grains,  so  one  germ,  multiplying  rap- 
idly every  minute,  will  form  legions  in  an  hour.    Of  course. 


*  Michigan  Board  of  Health  Report,  1882,  pp.  a^i  to  .3.30.    Ibid,  pp.  213  to  217. 

tin  the  discussion  following  the  lecture,  Mr.  Charles  F.  Wingate,  the  Sani- 
tary Engineer,  questioned  this  assertion  of  the  lecturer,  and  aflfirmed  that  ex- 
perience jiroved  all  kinds  of  sewer-gas  to  be  poisonous.  Different  constitutions, 
however,  differed  in  their  ability  to  resist  these  poisonous  influences. 


160  The  Involution  of  Medical  Science. 

like  wheat,  they  do  not  multiply  when  dry,  but  only  in 
proper  soil,  with  proper  temperature  and  moisture. 

Sanitary  Science  seeks  to  check  the  growth  of  these 
germs  and  to  destroy  those  already  developed.  To  fight  an 
invisible  foe  is  difficult  work,  but  we  are  steadily  improv- 
ing in  our  ways  of  doing  it.  The  general  public  are  little 
beyond  the  Middle  Ages  in  their  notions  about  how  to  give 
them  battle.  True,  they  no  longer  dej^end  on  phylters, 
charms,  crosses,  and  prayers,  for  relief.  They  do,  however, 
maintain  faith  in  bad-smelling  carbolic  acid,  tar,  and  other 
equally  useless  and  abominable  so-called  disinfectants.* 
Let  every  person,  within  hearing  of  my  voice  to-night, 
learn  that  nothing  will  destroy  the  germs  in  a  room,  or 
save  themselves  from  contagion,  so  well  as  a  deluge  of 
water  such  as  would  clean  a  sliower  of  lamp-black,  and 
plenty  of  pure  air,  to  blow  them  out  of  the  room,  while 
thorough  dusting  and  sweeping,  with  wet  brooms  and 
dusters,  is  being  done.  You  can  kill  germs,  that  are  not 
too  dry,  by  any  means  that  will  kill  the  hardiest  plants 
or  animals.  Nothing  short  of  this  is  of  the  least  avail. f 
When  your  disinfecting  has  killed  every  croton-bug,  bed- 
bug, fly  and  plant  in  your  room,  some  good  has  been  done 
in  protecting  yourself  and  children  from  disease.  To  buy 
a  few  cents'-worth  of  carbolic  acid,  chloride  of  lime,  Piatt's 
chlorides,  or  any  other  disinfectant,  leave  it  open  in  the 
room,  and  expect  immunity  therefrom,  is  to  believe  in  the 
impossible.  Such  ideas  belong  to  the  age  of  magic.  We 
but  play  the  ostrich  in  doing  this,  and  think  ourselves 
saved  from  the  enemy  if  our  heads  are  covered.  These 
disinfectants  are  exceedingly  useful  as  auxiliaries  to  floods 
of  water,  or  for  the  i)reparation  of  strong  solutions,  in 
which  to  cleanse  infected  goods. t  To  expect  any  other 
good  from  them  is  folly. 

Within  the  last  decade  progress  has  been  made  with 
great  rapidity.  Indeed,  the  gain  is  more  than  in  one  thou- 
sand years  immediately  after  Galen's  time.  A  doctor  who 
took  his  degree  ten  years  ago,  and  who  has  not  striven  to 
keep  abreast  of  the  times,  is  already  an  antiquated  fossil. 
He  knows  nothing  of  the  way  in  which  the  comi)arison  of 
tlie  anatomy  of  men  and  animals  has  shown  how  hundreds 
of  diseases  are  due  in  great  part  to  weaknesses  inherent  in 

*  Mediciil  News.  Vol.  4r.,  ]>.  144. 

t  National  I?oar<l  of  Ilfaltli  bulletin,  Vol.  ,■?,  p.  21. 

t  Medical  News,  Vol.  4<1,  p.  U<i. 


lice  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  151 

the  race,  and  brought  about  as  penalties  of  progress.  Prog- 
ress is  not  all  a  blessing.  It  demands  its  price,  and  some- 
times a  very  grave  one.  Comparative  anatomy  tells  us  of 
incurable  troubles,  and  why  they  are  so.  It  points  out 
weak  and  dangerous  conditions,  and  shows  how  to  avoid 
and  overcome  them.  The  non-evolutionist  physician  invari- 
ably overlooks  these  conditions,  and  his  patients  suifer  ac- 
cordingly. Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  have  become 
so  far  generalized  in  this  decade  as  to  show  how  drugs  of 
certain  qualities  are  composed  of  molecules  having  atoms 
of  certain  definite  weights.  The  therapeutic  qualities  of 
drugs  are  functions  of  their  atomic  weights.  Doctors  know- 
ing this  laAV  have  a  guide  as  to  the  claims  of  certain  drugs 
in  certain  diseases.  Those  who  do  not  know  it  must  risk 
pure  empiricism,  without  a  guide. 

Botany,  too,  has  supplied  its  aid  in  showing  how  thera- 
peutic qualities  of  a  given  type  run  in  veins  among  allied 
species  and  genera  of  plants.  The  doctor  who  knows  no 
botany  is  misled  by  pretenders  who  claim  great  things  for 
new  remedies.  Every  few  months  such  discoveries  are 
announced.  A  short  time  ago  it  was  gleditchine.  Shortly 
before  that  it  was  hopine.  Hundreds  of  physicians  pre- 
scribed these  humbug  remedies.  The  plants  they  pretended 
to  come  from  belong  to  places  in  the  evolutionary  order 
that  indicated  positively  that  they  were  frauds.  In  or- 
ganic chemistry  we  see  similar  generalization.  Alcohols 
with  similar  properties  have  similar  compositions.  Chloral 
hydrate,  paraldehyde,  and  other  hypnotics,  group  them- 
selves along  a  certain  line.  A  knowledge  of  organic 
chemistry  enables  a  physician  to  pass  a  fairly  good  judg- 
ment in  advance,  upon  any  remedy,  and  keeps  him  and  his 
patients  from  being  duped  by  advertising  pretenders.  Chem- 
ists lately  have  been  working  along  the  true  lines,  and  mak- 
ing wonderful  and  most  valuable  discoveries  —  if  we  really 
can  call  them  discoveries.  When  they  know  in  advance 
what  they  are  going  to  find  by  following  a  certain  path,  it 
is  scarcely  correct  to  call  them  discoveries,  even  if  no 
living  being  had  ever  seen  them  before.  Of  course,  the 
way  they  travel  is  dark  to  all  senses  but  the  mind,  and 
much  knowledge,  care  and  skill  are  needed  to  tread  the  be- 
fore untrodden,  but  predicted,  path,  safely. 

Bacteriology  has  also  revolutionized  pathology,  and  he 
who  clings  to  the  ideas  of  ten  years   ago  cannot  do   his 


152  The  E eolation  of  Medical  Science. 

whole  duty  to  his  patients.  We  now  know  that  diseases, 
.like  everything  else,  are  relative.  There  are  no  hard  and 
fast  lines  of  symptoms  to  any  disease.  We  have  found  that 
the  microbes  do  not  directly  cause  the  symptoms  in  a  con- 
tagious disease,  but  the  poisons  they  ])roduce.  These 
poisons  we  call  ptomaines.  Just  as  a  small  dose  of  whiskey 
or  morphine  will  produce  light  symptoms,  so  a  small  dose 
of  ptomaines  will  do  the  same.  As  the  system  can  become 
accustomed  to  whiskey  and  morphine,  so  that  large  doses 
are  scarcely  able  to  produce  any  symptoms,  so  it  can  become 
accustomed  to  the  ptomaines  of  disease.  As  the  microbes 
cannot  develop  unless  the  ptomaines  seriously  affect  our 
bodies,  to  become  used  to  their  poisons  is  to  be  able  to  re- 
sist them.  This  is  how  vaccination  acts.  It  makes  your 
system  used  to  the  ptomaines  of  smallpox,  so  that  the 
germs  of  that  disease  find  it  difficult  or  impossible  to  grow 
in  you.  This  is  why  one  attack  of  a  contagious  disease 
makes  us  less  liable  to  take  another.*  This  is  why,  of  ten 
persons  exposed,  only  one  seems  to  take  the  disease. 
Notice,  I  say  seems  to  take  it,  —  for  more  people  take  con- 
tagious diseases  than  we  think.  Doctors  not  abreast  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  last  ten  years  do  not  know  this,  and  take 
light  cases  of  scarlet-fever,  measles,  smallpox,  etc.,  ft)r 
simple  colds,  or  fits  of  dyspepsia,  and  foolishly  treat  them 
as  such.  Scarlet-fever,  and  the  rest  of  these  diseases,  exist 
in  all  degrees  of  seriousness,  from  a  simple  headache  to  the 
worst  anginal  types.  They  show  no  eruption,  nor  other 
sign,  and  yet  are  as  certainly  scarlet-fever  as  if  they  did. 
Measles  may  exist  merely  as  watery  eyes  and  impaired  ap- 
petite. The  victims  never  dream  of  their  having  such  dis- 
eases. 

The  last  decade  lias  also  shown  us  that  diseases  have  a 
selective  affinity  for  certain  parts  of  the  body,  and  the 
name  given  to  the  disease  will  be  no  criterion  as  to  its 
nature.  What  we  call  Bright's  disease  is  sometimes 
measles,  sometimes  scarlet-fever,  sometimes  snuxllpox, 
sometimes  consumption,  sometimes  immoral  diseases  th;it 
have  centred  their  forces  in  the  kidneys  because  they  are 
the  weak  part  of  the  ])atient's  organism.  A\'hat  we  call 
pneumonia,  diphtheria,  rheumatism,  pericarditis,  endocardi- 
tis, meningitis,  i)lt!urisy,  and  all  other  local  affections,  may 


*  Ddctor   (Iradle's  (ieriii  Theory  of  disease,   p.  \'>\;    V.  S.  Agricult.  Report, 
18S1-S2,  !>.  L-XJit. 


The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  163 

be  any  one  of  a  dozen  troubles  that  happen  to  have  at- 
tacked the  special  organ  or  part  that  gives  the  name.  Every 
physician  has  seen  pneumonia  that  was  what  we  call  an 
extremely  bad  cold ;  he  has  likewise  seen  cases  that  were 
la  grippe,  others  that  were  scarlet-fever,  still  others  that 
were  measles,  etc.  The  lungs  were  simply  the  weak  organs 
which,  in  that  particular  patient,  broke  under  the  strain ; 
and,  because  it  was  the  lungs,  we  called  it  pneumonia. 
Scarlet-fever,  with  one  patient,  will  give  rheumatism ;  with 
another,  pneumonia ;  with  another,  Bright's  disease  ;  with 
another,  diphtheria ;  with  another,  heart-disease ;  with  an- 
other, pleurisy ;  with  another,  inflamed  glands.  As  no  two 
wagons,  under  very  heavy  loads,  will  break  down  in  just 
the  same  place,  so  no  two  persons  with  the  same  disease 
will  develop  the  same  symptoms.  Expose  fifty  men  to  a 
ducking,  on  a  cold  day,  and  let  them  go  home  with  wet 
clothes,  and  you  will  soon  see  how  diverse  the  effects  of 
the  exposure  will  be. 

The  wise  physician  is  aware  of  the  complex  problems 
every  pathological  condition  presents,  and  governs  his 
treatment  accordingly.  His  patient  may  be  likened  to  a 
ship  in  a  storm,  and  surrounded  by  reefs  and  shoals.  He 
is  the  pilot  whose  duty  it  is  to  carry  that  boat  safely  past 
rocks  and  sand-bars  whereon  it  might  be  wrecked  or 
stranded.  Every  rock  and  bar  must  be  known  to  him,  and 
the  helm  must  be  kept  under  his  steady  grasp.  He  cannot 
stay  the  storm ;  but  by  his  skill  and  courage  he  can  save 
the  ship  until  it  is  past.  The  foolish  old  woman,  or  meddle- 
some neighbor,  or  the  foolhardy  parents,  friends  or  guard- 
ians of  a  patient,  who  give  medical  advice,  are  ignoramuses 
that  do  not  know  a  single  danger,  bvit  believe  they  have  a 
remedy,  or  method  of  holding  the  helm,  that  will  stop  the 
storm  itself.  The  physician's  remedies  are  to  protect  the 
life  at  danger-points.  If  the  family  is  heir  to  heart-disease 
or  rheumatism,  his  medicine  to  cure  scarlet-fever  is  an 
anti-rheumatic  remedy.  If  the  danger  is  kidney-disease, 
he  eases  in  advance  the  strain  on  the  kidneys.  If  weak 
lungs  or  scrofulous  glands  "  run  in  the  blood,"  his  "  cure  " 
for  scarlet-fever  is  a  protection  to  these.  See  that  insane 
idiot  who  says,  "  Oh,  your  trouble  is  the  same  as  mine,  and 
my  doctor  gave  me  so  and  so  ;  do  try  it ! "  He  is  asking 
the  patient  to  leave  himself  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
storm,  while  he  holds  the  helm  in  a  way  to  avoid  a  rock 


154  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

that  does  not  exist  in  that  family's  sea.  The  stupid  blun- 
derer thinks  he  is  staying  tlie  storm  of  disease  —  a  thing  no 
man  has  yet  done,  except  partially  in  possibly  two  diseases 
only.  Avoid  him,  if  you  value  your  own  lives  and  the 
lives  of  your  sick  friends.  Avoid,  too,  the  doctor  who 
never  inquires  into  the  disease-tendencies  of  your  family, 
or  the  past  troubles  of  the  patient,  and  who  has  therefore 
few  questions  to  ask.  A  family-doctor  of  long  standing 
has  mastered  all  these  facts  in  advance,  and  no  longer, 
needs  to  ask ;  but  a  stranger  who  pretends  to  know  with- 
out asking  is  a  dangerous  pilot. 

The  proper  practice  of  the  art  of  medicine  depends  upon 
the  Science  of  Medicine.  The  Science  of  Medicine  is  an 
Inductive  science  in  all  its  parts.  The  part  known  as 
diagnosis  is  especially  so.  The  doctor  has  no  magic  way 
of  finding  out  what  ails  a  patient,  or  what  his  latent  ten- 
iencies  are.  He  gets  at  his  facts  just  as  a  detective  does 
who  wishes  to  run  down  a  criminal.  The  more  facts  he 
gets,  the  more  likely  is  he  to  be  right  in  his  conclusions ; 
and  the  fewer  he  gets,  the  more  likely  is  he  to  err.  A 
stupid  physician  will  make  a  snap  diagnosis  on  one  promi- 
nent fact,  and  many  of  this  kind  of  doctors  depend  upon  the 
unskilled  diagnoses  of  the  patients  themselves  or  of  their 
friends.  A  single  falsehood,  or  misstated  fact  believed 
in,  will  lead  the  most  skilled  physician  into  error,  and 
condemn  the  patient  to  the  wrong  treatment.  That  false- 
hood weakens  the  whole  chain  of  facts,  and  everybody 
knows  that  the  strength  of  any  chain  is  only  the  strength 
of  the  weakest  link.  A  detective  makes  numerous  guesses 
as  to  how  a  murder  or  a  theft  occurred,  and  finally  adlieres 
to  the  guess  that  agrees  with  all  the  facts.  This  guess  gen- 
erally is  the  right  one.  Let  any  person  introduce  mislead- 
ing cues,  and  he  will  be  totally  unable  to  right  himself, 
until  he  discovers  that  he  is  being  deceived.  It  is  just 
so  with  a  doctor.  If  he  is  told  a  falsehood,  he  cannot 
possibly  discover  what  ails  the  patient  until  he  lirst  dis- 
covers that  he  has  been  misled.  No  doubt  an  occult  power 
of  getting  at  truth  would  be  superior  to  this  method,  but 
we  have  discovered  that  the  belief  in  occult  processes  is 
an  ignorant  superstition.  During  the  dark  ages,  the  pre- 
tense to  occultism  was  greatest,  and  the  eviden(!e  of  knowl- 
edge least.  Then  progress  was  at  a  standstill ;  now  it 
is  rushing  with  dizzy  speed.     The  masses  of  men  still  be- 


The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science.  156 

lieve  that  doctors  have  some  magic  way  of  getting  at  a 
knowledge  of  disease,  and  a  miraculous  way  of  curing.  To 
be  able  to  do  what  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  out  of 
every  thousand  people  believe  their  doctors  can  do,  would 
require  more  knowledge  than  could  be  mastered  in  a  thou- 
sand years,  with  a  brain  as  retentive  as  that  of  a  child  of 
fifteen  and  logical  acumen  as  fine  as  that  of  a  Newton. 

Physicians  are  praised  for  things  they  never  do,  and 
blamed  for  results  of  which  they  are  innocent.  Where 
their  work  is  most  laborious,  and  their  mental  anxiety  most 
intense,  their  pay,  as  a  rule,  is  abuse  only,  and  they  are 
denounced  and  vilified  without  mercy.  Every  doctor  has 
this  experience.  There  are  no  exceptions.  The  denser  the 
ignorance  of  the  patient,  the  greater  the  abuse.  And  yet 
no  class  of  men  can  anywhere  be  shown  with  a  less  selfish 
record  than  that  of  the  physician. 

Medicine  in  all  ages  has  attracted  into  its  ranks  the 
most  self-sacrificing  members  of  society.  As  a  science  it 
was  born  in  altruism.  To  this  day  it  offers  the  greatest 
opportunities  of  any  department  of  life  for  the  practice 
of  the  most  ennobling  graces  of  character.  These  con- 
stitute a  primary  caluse  of  its  evolution.  To  pass  this 
phase  unnoticed,  would  be  to  do  Medical  Science  scant 
justice.  Medical  men  stand  alone  in  the  earth  among  all 
others,  striving  with  their  whole  might  to  extinguish  their 
own  business.  They  preach  temperance,  virtue,  and  cleanli- 
ness, knowing  well  that  when  the  people  come  to  follow 
their  advice  their  occupations,  like  Othello's,  will  be  gone. 
They  establish  Boards  of  Healtli  to  arrest  the  spread  of 
disease,  while  well  aware  that  such  sanitary  measures  steal 
money  from  their  purses.  How  well  they  succeed,  is  shown 
by  official  statistics.  The  number  of  deaths  from  conta- 
gious diseases  are  directly  proportioned  to  the  certainty 
of  the  doctor  being  called.  Nobody  ever  fails  to  send  for 
a  physician  in  typhus  fever.  Only  six  persons  in  a  mil- 
lion now  die  of  this  disease.  Many  more  used  to  die  when 
no  effort  toward  its  suppression  was  made.  Whooping- 
cough  seldom  frightens  patients,  and  neighborly  old  ladies 
of  both  sexes  give  advice.  As  a  consequence  428  in  a  mil- 
lion die  of  this  disease.  Measles,  being  a  little  more 
serious,  needs  the  doctor  oftener,  and  only  341  in  a  mil- 
lion die.  Scarlet-fever  is  still  more  alarming,  so  that  medi- 
cal advice  is   more  in  demand,  and  222   in  a  million  die  of 


156  The  Evolution  of  Medical  Science. 

it.  Diphtheria  frightens  still  more,  thus  assuring  the 
doctor's  presence  oftener,  and  168  in  a  million  die.*  It  is 
thus  with  every  disease  :  the  fewer  it  kills,  the  more  people 
fear  it ;  because,  if  they  did  not  fear  it,  they  would  play 
the  fool,  and  give  it  a  chance  to  kill  more  people. 

If  bakers,  grocers,  dry-goods  men,  carpenters,  tailors, 
and  members  of  all  other  lines  of  business,  gave  as  much 
of  their  labor  in  charity  as  doctors  do,  poverty  would 
instantly  be  wiped  from  the  earth.  Nearly  one-half  of 
their  time  and  labor  is  given  freely  to  the  poor,  without 
money  and  without  price.  All  dispensary  work  is  free. 
All  hospital  work  is  free.  All  that  apply  to  the  Society 
for  Improving  the  condition  of  the  Poor,  are  treated  free. 
Every  physician  known  to  this  lecturer  has  many  families 
that  from  year  to  year  are  treated  free.  No  one  can  be 
sick  in  any  city  in  America,  however  poor,  and  not  get 
medical  care  if  he  asks  for  it.  Doctors  do  sometimes  re- 
fuse to  take  special  cases,  because  of  the  legal  restrictions 
and  responsibilities  that,  like  Damocles'  sword,  hang  over 
their  heads.  Such  cases  will  be  received  in  the  dispensa- 
ries and  hospitals,  so  that  none  need  suffer.  Let  every 
other  person,  in  all  occupations,  give  nearly  half  his  time 
and  labor  to  the  poor,  and  what  a  revolution  it  would  work. 
Like  a  pair  of  Siamese  Twins,  Altruism  and  Medicine 
have  always  been  linked  together.  The  majority  of  the 
devoted  heroes  of  science  have  been  medical  men.  They 
suffered  and  died  to  redeem  the  race. 


*New  York  World,  quotation  from  St.  James  Gazette,  Feb.  5, 1890. 


EVOLUTION  OF  ARMS  AND  ARMOR 


BY 

JOHN    C.    KIMBALL 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

The  Geologies  of  Lyell,  Dana  and  Le  Conte;  the  Botanies  of 
Gray  and  Sachs;  Owen's  "Manual  of  Palajontology  " ;  Nicholson's 
"Ancient  Life-History  of  the  Earth";  Darwin's  "Origin  of  Spe- 
cies," chap,  iii,  and  "Descent  of  Man,"  chap,  ii  ;  Homer's 
"Iliad";  Grose's  "Military  Antiquities" ;  Meyrick's  "Critical 
Inquiry  into  Ancient  Armor";  Fanar's  "Military  Manners  and 
Customs";  Demmin's  "History  of  Arms  and  Armor";  Boutell's 
Translation  of  Lacombe's  "Arms  and  Armor";  Scoffern's  "Pro- 
jectile Weapons";  Chesney's  "Past  and  Present  State  of  Fire- 
arms"; Beckman's  "History  of  Inventions,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  535; 
Buckle's  "History  of  Civilization,"  Vol.  I.,  chap,  iv.  Vol.  II., 
chap.ii;  Hallam's  "Middle  Ages"  ;  Smith's  "Wealth  of  Nations"; 
Grote's  "History  of  Greece";  Lecky's  "History  of  European 
Morals,"  Vol.  II.,  pp.  2(52-290;  Gibbon's  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire";  Proctor's  "History  of  the  Crusades";  Scott's 
"Waverly"  and  "Ivanhoe";  Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology," 
Part  v.;  Comte's  "Positive  Philosophy,"  Vols.  IV.,  VI. ;  Fox's 
"Book  of  Martyrs";  Proudhon's  "What  is  Property?"  Reports 
of  the  U.  S.  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  and  of  War;  "The  Army  and 
Navy  Journal";  "Transactions  of  the  American  and  Foreign 
Peace  Societies." 

(158) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF   ARMS  AND  ARMOR.* 


It  is  a  well  proclaimed,  though  not  always  a  well  prac- 
tised maxim  of  good  citizenship,  that  the  legislator,  the 
reformer,  the  political  economist,  the  voter,  everybody  who 
is  to  have  anything  to  do  with  discussing  and  directing  the 
affairs  of  society  and  the  State,  ought  to  have,  as  a  prep- 
aration for  it,  a  knowledge  of  history, —  that  is,  of  what 
other  men  in  other  days  have  done  and  have  tried  to  do  in 
the  same  great  fields.  Equally  important  is  it,  also,  as  we 
are  now  beginning  to  see,  that  such  persons  should  have,  as 
a  requisite  for  their  fullest  intelligent  action,  a  like  ac- 
quaintance with  science,  and  especially  with  those  depart- 
ments of  science,  as  zoology  and  palaeontology,  which 
relate  to  what  animals  and  plants  have  done,  and  with  their 
great  interpreter,  Evolution.  Human  history  is  but  the 
last  chapter  in  a  vast  volume,  many  chaptered,  of  the 
world's  transactions,  impossible  to  be  understood  without 
reading  in  its  preceding  ones  what  our  ancestors  older  tlian 
man  have  been  doing;  human  society,  as  Mr.  Spencer  has 
so  admirably  shown  in  his  Principles  of  Sociology,  is  but 
the  enlargement  and  further  development  of  organisms 
spread  all  through  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  on 
which  Nature  has  been  at  work  for  millions  of  years.  Tlie 
root  and  germ  not  only  of  man's  body,  as  seen  in  the  oldest 
vertebrate  fossils,  but  of  man's  mind,  and  of  all  that  mind 
does  and  can  do  both  individually  and  socially,  have  existed 
in  the  world's  great  life-tree  from  the  start,  —  must  have 
done  so,  according  to  Evolution,  —  and  have  been  continu- 
ally unfolding  themselves,  if  not  at  first  as  flower  and  fruit, 
yet  long  ago  as  shoot  and  stalk.  There  is  hardly  an 
experiment  humanity  is  now  trying  in  mechanics,  art,  gov- 
ernment, labor,  capital,  education,  sociology,  and  even  eccle- 
siasticism,  —  some  of  them  with  its  own  children  as  the 
materials, — that  Xature  has  not  already  tried  at  least  the 
principles  of,  over  and  over,  in  the  cruder  forms  of  matter, 
and  with  the  cheaper  materials  of   animal  and  vegetable 

♦CorvKKJHT,  1890,  l)y  James  H.  West. 


160  The  Kvolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

structure.  And,  such  being  the  case,  who  cannot  see  that 
to  study  these, —  wliich  have  succeeded  and  which  have 
failed,  and  what  have  been  the  causes  of  their  successes 
and  failures,  and  what  the  philosophy  is  which  lies  behind 
them,  —  wovdd  save  the  statesman,  the  reformer  and  the 
citizen  many  a  costly  experiment  on  human  beings,  and 
would  open  the  way  for  the  intelligent  choice  of  many  an 
agency  and  path  of  progress  now  lying,  it  may  be,  right 
before  their  eyes,  but  which,  as  things  are,  they  are  grop- 
ing for  in  utter  blindness,  or  trampling  down  in  utter  con- 
tempt ? 

One  of  the  great  questions  that  is  before  our  country 
to-day,  and  that  every  country  has  to  meet,  —  one  that  in- 
volves millions  of  dollars  and  the  principles,  to  some 
extent,  on  which  is  to  turn  the  whole  future  of  its  civiliza- 
tion, and  which  in  many  respects  is  the  most  difficult  that 
statesmanship  has  to  deal  with,  —  is  what  its  people  shall 
do  in  the  way  of  arms  and  armor  for  their  protection  and 
defense.  And  it  is  a  problem,  too,  that  Nature,  not  less 
imperatively  than  nations,  has  had  to  deal  with  all  through 
the  past.  War  and  the  wager  of  battle,  weapons  and  the 
wounds  of  conflict,  are  not  the  accident  and  disease  of  her 
original  economy,  not  a  human  lapse  and  folly,  but  a  con- 
stituent element  in  her  very  system  of  things.  The 
moment  she  set  her  creatures  on  earth,  even  in  their  lowest 
forms,  exposed  to  the  elements  and  compelled  to  get 
their  own  living,  most  of  them,  by  preying  on  each  other, 
it  became  necessary,  if  their  lives  were  not  at  once  to  be 
extinguished,  to  provide  them  with  some  means  on  the  one 
hand  of  assault,  and  on  the  other  of  defense, —  a  necessity 
which  is  bound  up  inseparably  with  those  two  great  princi- 
ples on  which  all  organic  evolution  is  based,  the  struggle 
for  existence  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  Devices  to 
meet  it  have  played  a  part  in  her  economy  second  only  to 
those  for  alimentation  itself;  are  a  field  in  which  she,  too, 
as  much  as  any  statesman,  has  had  to  tax  all  her  resources 
and  lay  under  tribiite  all  her  skill.  The  rocks  below  the 
earth's  surface  are  a  vast  gallery  in  which,  while  tlie  mus- 
cles, stomachs  and  brains  of  her  children  have  perished, 
the  arms  and  armor  with  which  they  fought  have  for  ages 
been  preserved,  as  in  our  museums  above  its  surface  are  the 
swords,  shields  and  eoats-of-mail  tliat  our  human  ancestors, 
now  dust,  wore  to  battle  in  their  brave  days  of  old.     And 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  arid  Ariaor.  161 

the  result  of  these  long  experiments  as  to  what  are  fittest, 
and  have  helped  their  users  to  be  fittest  also,  is  not  only 
of  itself  one  of  the  most  beautiful  chapters  in  the  Book  of 
Evolution,  but  one  that  pours  a  great  flood  of  practical  wis- 
dom on  the  problems  of  our  time  as  to  the  true  principles  to 
be  followed  in  securing  national,  social  and  even  religious 
survival  and  supremacy. 

The  first  effort  of  her  Vulcan  fingers  was  in  the  line  of 
protective  armor  pure  and  simple,  the  encasement  of 
animals  and  plants  in  a  mere  hard  outside  covering.  It 
is  what  the  exposure  alone  of  their  original  protoplasm  to 
water,  sun  and  air,  aided  by  the  secretion  of  mineral  matter 
on  the  surface,  and  intensified  by  the  survival  and  repro- 
duction of  the  animals  and  plants  which  had  it  most, 
would  tend  naturally,  in  strict  accordance  with  Darwin's 
laws,  to  produce ;  and  it  is  now  seen  to  advantage  in  the 
sea-urchin  and  star-fish  among  Kadiates,  in  the  oyster 
and  clam  among  Mollusks,  in  the  turtle  and  alligator  among 
Vertebrates,  in  the  eggs  of  birds,  and,  to  some  extent,  in 
the  skin  and  hair  of  all  animals. 

It  was  a  form,  however,  to  which  Nature  could  not  con- 
fine herself,  especially  in  the  animal  kingdom.  If  live 
things  were  to  live,  either  on  each  other  or  on  vegetables, 
they  obviously  must  have  some  means  of  breaking  through 
each  other's  hard  covers  and  getting  at  their  inside  meat. 
The  means  came  to  them  in  the  form  of  cilia,  tentacles, 
suckers,  claws,  mouths,  horns,  jaws,  tails,  tusks,  teeth,  begin- 
ning, perhaps,  in  such  mere  thread-like  extensions  of  the 
inner  protoplasm  as  are  now  seen  in  the  rhizopods,  and 
culminating  in  the  apparatus  of  such  magnificent  vertebrate 
carnivora  as  the  lion  and  the  tiger. 

But  such  weapons  alone,  with  only  the  old  protoplasmic 
bodies  to  wield  them,  would  not  have  been  enough ;  would 
indeed  have  been  of  less  value  to  them  than  even  their  old 
outside  covering.  To  have  them  of  any  real  use  Nature 
had  to  develop,  along  with  them,  bones,  muscles,  nerves, 
senses,  brains;  and,  in  some  of  their  owners,  the  habit  and 
power  of  association,  —  all  that  constitutes  a  highly  organ- 
ized internal  structure.  These  were  organs  and  faculties 
which  became,  in  their  turn,  a  new  species  of  armor  still 
more  interior;  became  at  any  rate  what  had  the  same  use 
as  armor,  —  the  quickness  of  eye  that  could  discern  the 


162  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Arvfior. 

foe,  the  activity  of  limb  that  could  fly  to  it,  from  it  and 
around  it,  the  shrewdness  of  mind  that  could  observe  its 
habits  and  select  the  best  points  for  its  attack,  and  the  in- 
stinct of  co-operation  that  could  join  forces  in  coping  with 
it,  differing  only  in  their  fineness  from  the  sharpness  of 
the  tooth  and  the  strength  of  the  claw.  And  thus  were 
introduced  the  two  great  principles  that  Nature  has  used 
in  all  her  arming,  and  that  have  played  and  are  still  play- 
ing a  most  tremendous  part  in  her  economy,  —  their  dis- 
tinction being  not  exactlj'"  that  of  defensive  and  offensive 
weapons,  for  both,  when  need  required,  could  be  used  de- 
fensively, but  that  the  one  had  its  chief  value  in  its  own 
outside  strength,  while  the  other  depended  for  its  efficacy 
on  qualities  connected  with  its  possessor's  inside  develop- 
ment. 

Equipped  from  her  arsenal  with  the  varied  arms  and 
armor  which  embodied,  some  of  them  one  of  these  principles 
almost  exclusively,  and  some  a  mingling  of  the  two,  Nature 
sent  forth  her  myriad  creatures  into  their  great  life-battle, 
world-wide  in  its  field,  where  the  issue  has  been  not  only 
which  of  themselves,  but  which  of  their  weapons  and  of 
the  principles  on  which  their  weapons  were  made,  would 
prove  the  fittest,  and  best  help  their  users  to  survive.  Dur- 
ing the  long  geologic  ages  they  were  all,  and  especially 
the  outward  kinds,  enormously  developed  both  in  size  and 
strength,  and  their  underlying  philosophy  was  tested  in  the 
severest  way  by  contests  alike  with  each  other  and  with 
the  world's  equally  ferocious  natural  elements.  The  Ortho- 
ceras,  a  huge  cephaloid  mollusk  of  the  lower  Silurian 
rocks,  had  a  thick,  hard,  cylindrical  covering,  twelve  to 
eighteen  feet  long  and  at  its  base  a  foot  in  diameter.  The 
Dinichthys,  a  Devonian  ganoid  fish  some  thirty  feet  long, 
was  protected  about  its  head  with  a  suit  of  massive  articu- 
lated armor  that  a  cannon-ball  could  hardly  have  crushed. 
Among  the  famoiis  reptiles  of  the  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous 
ages,  —  the  Icthyosaur,  Megalosaur,  Mosasaur,  Iguanodon 
and  others,  —  some  were  fifty,  sixty,  and  a  hundred  feet 
long,  plated  over  Avith  thick  scales  for  defense,  and  armed 
for  attack  with  claws  hooked  back  like  sickles,  with  long 
projecting  tusks  that  shut  down  by  each  other  like  clasped 
fingers,  and  with  sharp,  glistening  sabre-like  teeth,  some- 
times four  rows  of  them,  and  two  hundred  in  number, — 
indeed  "  monstrous  and  prodigious  things  worse  than  fables 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  163 

yet  have  feigned."  And  the  age  of  Mammals  had  its 
Mastodon  with  tusks  twelve  and  fourteen  feet  long,  its 
Glyptodon  with  a  solidified  bony  armor  on  its  back  nine 
feet  across  and  weighing  nearly  four  thousand  pounds,  its 
Megatherium  with  clawed  feet  a  yard  in  length,  and  its 
Machairodus,  a  tiger  whose  open  mouth  was  an  arsenal  set 
with  natural  swords. 

How  terrible  must  have  been  the  contests  of  such 
monsters  with  each  other,  and  the  slaughter  made  by  them 
on  their  weaker  and  less  protected  neighbors,  —  most  truly 
"Nature  red  in  tooth  and  claw  with  ravin"!  How  dif- 
ferent the  scenes  of  their  world  from  the  peace  and  repose 
that  Miltonic  poets  have  loved  to  picture  as  the  condition 
of  the  earth  "  before  the  advent  of  man  and  sin "  !  The 
sea  was  alive  with  animal  frigates,  the  land  with  self-mov- 
ing Krupp  cannon,  the  sky  with  literally  "flying  artillery." 
The  modern  question  between  steel  plate  and  steel  shot, 
tried  of  late  by  the  Merrimac  and  the  Monitor,  was  tried 
of  old  as  a  principle  between  ivory  tooth  and  horny  scale 
by  many  a  Megalosaur  and  Mosasaur,  carnivore  and  pachy- 
derm, each  increasing,  as  now,  the  force  and  size  of  the 
assailing  weapon,  as  the  other  increased  the  thickness  and 
strength  of  the  defensive  plate.  The  physical  stuff  of 
which  a  Nelson  and  a  Napoleon,  a  Paul  Jones  and  a  Far- 
ragut,  were  afterwards  made,  cruised,  perhaps,  around  the 
headlands  of  England,  and  marched,  perhaps,  across  the 
wilds  of  Europe  and  America,  ages  before  their  day,  as 
Dinichthys  and  Dinosaur,  Machairodus  and  Megathere. 
Battles  of  Trafalgar  and  the  Nile,  of  Marathon  and  Water- 
loo, deciding  the  fate  of  great  animal  kingdoms,  were 
fought,  to  begin  with,  under  far  off  Triassic  and  Mesozoic 
skies.  And  whether  or  not  Tennyson's  lines  are  true  of 
the  future,  — 

"  And  there  rained  a  ghastly  dew 

From  the  nations'  airy  navies  grappling  in  the  central  blue," 

they  have  been  true  of  the  past,  the  "airy  navies"  being 
those  of  such  great  reptile  birds  as  the  Pteranodon  and 
Pterodactyl,  the  latter  with  a  wing-spread  of  twenty-five 
feet. 

What  has  been  the  result  of  this  long,  ferocious  war, 
as  related  to  the  various  kinds  of  armor  used  by  its  combat- 
ants ?  The  records  of  the  rocks  conclusively  answer.  It 
has  been   the  overwhelming  of    nearly  all  the  races   and 


164  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

orders  that  were  provided  with  its  massive  outside  varieties, 
and  the  survival  and  supremacy  of  those  that  have  been 
equipped  with  its  inner  and  finer  forms.  Orthoceras  and 
Dinichthys,  Megalosaur  and  Megathere,  Icthyosaur  and 
Iguanodon,  monsters  armed  with  shell  and  scale,  tooth  and 
claw,  enormous  and  terrible,  have  all  without  exception 
gone  down  in  the  great  life-battle ;  while  those  whose 
weapons  were  the  finer  skeleton,  the  keener  sense,  the 
quicker  nerve,  the  larger  brain  and  the  stronger  social  in- 
stinct, faculties  good  for  peace  as  well  as  war,  —  and  some 
that  apparently  have  had  no  outward  fighting-apparatus  at 
all,  nothing  but  inner  shrewdness  and  wisdom, —  are  the 
races  that  have  been  victorious,  and  survived.  Even  the 
armed  ones  whose  descendants  are  still  on  the  field,  as  the 
lion  and  the  tiger,  the  eagle  and  the  shark,  have  evidently 
held  on  by  virtue  of  their  quickened  inner  powers,  rather 
than  through  their  outward  strength;  or  else,  as  with  the 
oyster  and  the  clam,  by  reason  of  their  insignificance  and 
unprogressiveness,  rather  than  because  of  their  hardened 
shells.  And  man,  the  one  that  has  progressed  most  of  all, 
that  has  become  the  head  of  the  animal  kingdom  and 
the  lord  and  master  of  the  earth,  —  he  is  the  one  that,  out- 
Avardly,  is  the  most  unweaponed  and  defenseless  of  all ;  the 
one  whose  claws  are  taper  fingers,  whose  skin  every  mos- 
quito can  puncture,  and  whose  armor  of  thought  has  no  size 
or  weight  whatever. 

What  is  the  reason  of  this  result,  what  the  underlying 
causes  why  inward  development  should  thus  prove  itself 
more  effective  in  the  struggle  for  life  than  outside  strength  ? 
They  are  not  hard  to  find.  To  begin  with,  the  animals 
that  trusted  to  exterior  arms  and  armor  were  less  able  to 
adapt  themselves  to  the  ever-changing  conditions  of  the 
earth  and  of  food  supply,  than  those  Avhose  weapons  were 
within.  The  very  things  which  protected  them  against  one 
set  of  elements  made  them  often  the  more  exjjosed  to  be 
overcome  by  another  set,  —  as  the  heavy  fur,  so  warm  lor 
AVinter,  becomes  an  intolerable  burden  under  the  heats  of 
Summer.  The  endowments  that  were  efficient  against  one  set 
of  enemies,  by  reason  of  their  bulk,  were  inefficient  against 
another  set  by  reason  of  their  unwieldiness,  —  as  the  huge 
frigates,  so  ])owerful  against  each  other  broadside  to,  are 
helpless  against  the  lively  little  ram  that  rakes  them  turn- 
ing round.     And  as  the  struggle  went  on  between  thi'-ker 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  165 

plates  on  the  one  side  and  more  formidable  jaws,  claws, 
teeth  and  limbs  on  the  other,  their  weight  and  size  became 
of  themselves  in  time  their  owners'  worst  foes,  sinking  them 
in  morasses,  stranding  them  on  bars,  exposing  them  to  be 
overwhelmed  with  sudden  floods,  and  at  last  bearing  them 
down  to  earth  and  to  extinction  by  simply  their  own  huge- 
ness. On  the  other  hand,  with  some  disadvantages,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  animal's  inner  powers  and  parts  had,  in 
all  these  directions,  a  corresponding  gain.  When  Nature 
invented  her  backbone,  and  put  her  limbs,  flesh,  senses,  and 
so  many  of  her  soft  and  vulnerable  parts,  on  its  outside,  it 
looked  at  first  like  a  great  military  mistake,  —  like  the 
building  of  a  fort  and  the  putting  of  its  garrison  outside 
of  its  walls  rather  than  within  their  protection.  But  what 
a  tremendous  part  this  very  arrangement  of  it  has  acted 
in  all  her  subsequent  operations.  The  mineral  matter  its 
possessors  needed  to  carry  about  was,  in  proportion  to  their 
size,  greatly  reduced  by  it,  alike  in  weight  and  bulk.  How 
flexible  it  has  proved  in  the  line  of  adaptations,  —  ranging 
all  the  way  from  the  fish  in  the  sea  to  the  bird  in  the  air, 
from  the  snake  that  crawls  to  the  man  that  walks,  and 
from  the  uses  of  war  to  the  needs  of  peace.  What  beauty 
and  dignity  it  has  gathered  around  it  in  man's  kingly 
stature  and  in  Avoman's  queenly  grace ;  and  how  fitly,  in 
the  higher  conflicts  of  civilization,  it  has  become  the  symbol 
of  the  statesman's  crowning  attribvite,  —  his  "  having  back- 
bone." So  with  each  of  Nature's  other  steps  in  the  same 
direction.  What  was  the  sharp  tooth  as  a  help,  either  in 
defense  or  attack,  as  compared  with  the  sharp  eye  ?  What 
the  huge  limb,  clumsily  brought  down  on  its  object,  in  con- 
trast with  the  quickened  nerve  which,  in  the  same  time,  with 
a  smaller  limb,  could  rain  a  score  of  blows  against  the 
selected  weak  parts  of  its  victim  ?  What  the  chance  of 
the  creature  with  the  strongest  claw  and  the  widest  range 
of  wood  and  sea,  in  its  contest  with  hunger  and  cold,  as 
measured  against  one  with  the  hand  and  mind  to  weave 
every  fibre  that  grows  into  robes  of  warmtli,  turn  every 
force  of  Nature  into  weapons  of  war,  and  lay  every  land 
that  blooms  under  contribution  for  food  ?  If  the  inner  de- 
velopment lost  sometimes  in  its  direct  fitness  for  fighting, 
it  made  up  for  it  a  tliousand  fold  by  its  larger  fitness  for 
peace ;  and  as  peace,  even  in  the  wildest  nature,  is  at  least 
one  of  its  normal  conditions,  —  is  the  time,  even   among 


166  Tlie  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Arraor. 

beasts,  in  which  to  prepare  for  war,  —  it  is  not  strange  that 
what  was  fitted  in  part  for  each  of  these  states  should  have 
proved,  as  a  whole,  the  fittest  to  survive. 

Beyond  this,  just  in  proportion  as  a  live  thing  was 
protected  by  outward  armor,  either  against  the  elements  or 
against  its  foes,  the  stimulus  for  its  interior  development 
wjis  taken  away,  the  nourishing  qualities  of  its  food  went 
to  its  outside  parts,  and  the  freedom  of  its  circulatory 
system,  always  needed  in  the  making  of  a  highly  diifei'enti- 
ated  organism,  was  sacrificed  in  the  interest  of  its  harder 
shell.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  starting-point  of  the 
whole  divergence  between  the  animal  and  vegetable  king- 
doms, now  so  broad,  was  that  the  original  protistic  proto- 
plasm out  of  which  they  both  came,  identical  in  all  other 
respects,  was  a  little  more  solidified  in  the  one  case  than  in 
the  other,  as  it  still  is  in  their  germs,  — that  early  outside 
protection  being  fatal  to  all  animal-life  development.  And 
when  Nature  surrounds  any  creature  at  its  birth  with  an 
encasement  that  is  a  guard  without  effort  on  its  own  part 
from  all  harm,  as  with  the  snail,  oyster  and  clam,  or 
develops  its  teeth,  claws  and  bulk  so  enormously  by  inheri- 
tance that  their  mere  display  protects  it  from  all  ordinary 
assaults,  Avhat  inducement  does  the  creature  have  for  in- 
terior growth,  and  what  sustenance  have  left  for  it  even 
should  the  need  arise  ?  It  is  the  animals  whose  very  exist- 
ence depends  on  the  completeness  and  activity  of  their 
internal  equipment,  —  on  their  quickness  of  motion,  keen- 
ness of  sense,  and  cunning  of  brain,  rather  than  on  their 
outside  covering,  —  it  is  these  that  will  necessarily  make 
the  most  of  every  variation  in  the  direction  of  such  ])0wers, 
using  them  more  and  more,  and  be  the  ones  to  mount  up  at 
last  from  moner  into  man.  Historically,  in  the  animal 
kingdom,  it  is  out  of  the  bodily  weakest  that  have  come 
the  mentally  strongest.  Lacking  talons,  they  have  de- 
veloped talents ;  unable  to  throttle,  they  have  learned  to 
think.  Danger  has  been  their  school ;  difficulty  their 
teacher ;  and,  instead  of  yielding  to  the  arsenal  of  outward 
weapons  arrayed  against  them,  they  have  turned  them  into 
helpers,  —  sharpened  their  wits  against  the  very  teeth  of 
tigers,  made  the  ferocity  of  the  hyena  and  bear  contribute 
to  their  fineness  of  nerve  aiul  sense,  and  the  portion  of 
Nature's  goods  that  Megalosaur  and  Megathere  consumed 
with  riotous  living  in  the  making  of  brawii,  they  have 
used  with  econoniv  in  tlie  niakintr  of  brain. 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  167 

Then,  too,  the  imperfection  of  their  outward  armor  must 
have  had  a  very  important  influence  in  driving  the  weak 
into  that  mightiest  of  all  military  arts,  mightier  than  any 
tusk  or  claw  or  individual  accoutrement, —  co-operative 
effort.  All  animals  even  of  the  same  species,  organized  to 
prey  on  each  other,  would  naturally  be  foes  at  first,  and 
inclined  to  live  apart.  Outward  shelter  meant  only  the 
continuance  of  this  separation.  "What  society  could  the 
oyster  and  the  clam  have  with  each  other  ?  What  need  of 
mutual  assistance,  the  Icthyosaur  and  Megalosaur,  fifty  or 
a  hundred  feet  long,  and  panoplied  all  over  with  thick 
plates  ?  It  was  only  the  unprotected  that  would  be  under 
the  necessity  of  overcoming  their  individual  enmities  and 
combining  against  their  protected  foes  ;  only  the  outwardly 
weak  who  would  be  apt  learners  of  the  lesson  that  union  is 
strength.  Once  learned  it  became  not  only  a  mighty 
weapon  of  attack  and  defense,  but  the  teacher  of  innumer- 
able other  things.  The  association  it  involved  was  a 
powerful  stimulus  to  mind-development.  Liking  its  bene- 
fits, they  grew  inevitably  to  like  the  benefit-givers,  —  that 
is,  their  associates.  And  thus,  under  the  wonderful 
alchemy  of  Evolution,  out  of  the  crucible  of  animal  hate 
in  this  seething  world  of  ours,  stirred  with  tusk  and  claw, 
has  come,  as  much  as  there  is  of  it,  the  fine  gold  of 
brotherly  love,  the  protective  arms  into  which  all  weapons 
are  at  last  to  merge. 

As  plants,  in  their  relation  to  the  world's  great  food- 
question,  are  necessarily  the  assailed  rather  than  the  assail- 
ants, being  the  prey  of  animals,  but  made  to  get  their  own 
living  chiefly  from  unobjecting  inorganic  matter,  their 
armor  for  the  most  part  is  naturally  outward  and  protective 
rather  than  inward  and  offensive.  It  is  what  is  found  in 
the  bark  of  trees,  the  rind  of  fruits,  the  shell  of  nuts,  the 
beard  of  grains,  the  spines  and  thorns  of  many  shrubs,  and 
in  the  roughness  and  hardness  of  nearly  all  vegetation  in  its 
native  state.  And  yet  plants  are  not  by  any  means  en- 
tirely destitute  of  what  may  be  called  offensive  arms,  or 
wholly  incapable,  when  assailed,  of  assailing  in  return. 
Species  of  them  are  found,  here  and  there,  like  the  sun-dew, 
the  pitcher-plant,  and  the  Venus  fly-trap,  which  completely 
turn  the  tables  on  the  animal  kingdom,  and,  instead  of 
being  the  eaten,  are  themselves  the  eaters,  —  catching  their 


168  The  Evohition  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

insect-victims  with  sticky  fluids,  spring-traps  and  imprison- 
ing doors,  the  ingenuity  of  which  the  best  patent,  corner- 
grocery  fly-destroyer  might  well  emulate.  Anybody  who 
has  ever  tried  to  work  himself  imperiously  through  a 
tangled  thicket,  or  to  rob  a  blackberry-bush  of  its  shining 
progeny,  or  to  climb  a  pear-tree  for  its  juicy  products,  will 
be  a  not  very  incredulous  skeptic  as  to  the  capacity  of  at 
least  some  plants  for  offensive  warfare.  AVhen  a  forest 
has  been  cut  down  and  a  multitude  of  new  shoots  are 
springing  up,  and  one  of  them  gets  a  little  the  start  of  the 
others,  no  human  being  in  the  arena  of  politics  or  society 
or  trade  ever  used  his  faculties  more  combatively,  to  elbow 
out  and  kick  out  all  competitors,  than  such  a  vegetable  up- 
start does  its  limbs  and  roots  to  shade  out  and  starve  out  its 
vegetable  brethren.  The  forest  and  the  swamp  have  their 
leafy  denizens  that  are  weaponed  as  eifectively  with  deadly 
poisons,  offensive  odors  and  biting  flavors  as  any  in  the 
animal  kingdom  that  wear  scales  and  furs,  or  in  society  that 
wear  tongues  and  clothes.  And  the  small  boy  who  has  assailed 
the  green-apple  tree  has,  in  his  doubling  up  from  it  dur- 
ing the  night  afterwards,  an  evidence  which  neither  he  nor 
his  mother  will  dispute,  that  the  assailed  orchard  is  not 
inferior  to  the  assailed  pugilist  in  its  skill  to  strike  back  at 
its  antagonist's  most  sensitive  parts. 

There  is  the  same  difference,  also,  as  to  the  fineness, 
beauty  and  organic  rank  of  the  weapons  used  in  the  vege- 
table kingdom,  that  is  found  in  the  animal  world,  and  the 
same  rivalry  as  to  Avhich  will  prove  the  most  effective  in  its 
struggle  for  existence.  Their  coarsest  and  ugliest  forms 
were  the  ones  with  which  Nature  necessarily  began.  Dur- 
ing the  vast  periods  of  palaeontology  the  monsters  of  scale 
and  claw  were  fully  matched  by  those  of  leaf  and  bark. 
Trees  were  the  grass  on  which  fed  Iguanodon  and  Dinocere  ; 
tree-tops  the  grain  that  was  reaped  by  Hadrosaur  and  Dino- 
there.  Reeds  grew  to  be  sticks  of  timber,  and  club-niosses 
to  be  forests  in  size.  With  flowers  not  yet  come  at  all,  and 
the  true  woods  only  in  a  limited  degree,  the  world's  i)laut- 
forces  went  forth  lor  ages  to  their  life-battles  under  the 
hueless  cryi)togams  as  their  banners  and  with  the  savage 
stigmaria  and  sigillaria  trees  as  their  lances  and  clubs,  — 
fought  them  too,  amid  the  thunder  of  volcanoes,  the  rising 
and  falling  of  continents  and  the  fierceness  of  tro])ic  suns 
as  we   never  know  them  noAv.     And  the  coal-measures  of 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  169 

to-day,  their  ancient  battle-grounds,  heaped  thousands  of 
feet  thick  with  their  dead  remains,  testify  to  the  ferocity 
of  their  conflicts  and  to  the  grossness  and  strangeness  of 
their  weapons.  The  weeds  of  our  own  time,  rough,  tough, 
unsightly  and  bitter,  are  looked  upon  as  the  special  enemies 
of  man's  race,  a  part  of  the  earth's  curse  for  his  primal  sin, 
and  as  exercising  their  disagreeable  qualties  out  of  mere 
deviltry  and  love  of  mischief ;  and  are  warred  against  with  all 
the  unpitying  sharpness  of  the  farmer's  hoe  and  the  garden- 
er's hate.  But  weeds  to  begin  with  were  the  special  friends 
of  agriculture  and  man,  the  vegetable  aborigines  of  the 
land  and  pioneers  of  civilization,  and  were  armed  thus  with 
special  reference  to  their  work.  When  our  modern  earth 
was  yet  a  wilderness  built  over  the  graves  of  its  extinct  geo- 
logical vegetation,  and  incapable  of  nourishing  any  culti- 
vated fruits,  the  "weeds  "  settled  down  on  its  great  glacial 
furrows  just  plowed  up,  and  began  battling  with  its  crude, 
inorganic  elements  to  work  them  over  through  their  own 
veins  into  fruitful  soils.  Go  out  on  the  edge  of  any  desert 
to-day,  and  you  will  see  some  of  their  tribe  still  engaged 
in  their  old  pristine  war,  throwing  out  their  advanced  guards 
and  establishing  their  slender  outposts  each  year  a  little 
further  into  the  waste,  too  poor  as  yet  to  hoist  over  them 
the  banner  even  of  a  flower,  but  winning  what  at  last  will 
wave  with  all  Springtime's  streamers  and  Autumn's  signal- 
hues.  And  who  does  not  see  that  their  roughness,  tough- 
ness and  acridness  are  the  only  possible  weapons  with 
which  they  could  have  withstood  the  parching  drouths, 
elemental  starvations,  and  fierce  animal  hungers,  of  those 
elder  days  and  outer  realms,  and  so  have  won  for  their 
kingdom  the  first  stages  of  its  struggle  for  life  ?  Who, 
in  remembrance  of  what  they  have  done,  and  as  a  foregleam 
of  that  philophyty  into  which  mankind  is  some  day  to 
broaden  out,  will  not  forgive  them  the  stained  fingers  and 
smarting  palms  with  which,  in  garden  and  field,  they  resist 
being  toi-n  from  what  is  so  truly  their  own  hard-won  soil  ? 
Mingled,  however,  with  these  rough  and  repellant 
Aveapons  of  the  vegetable  world,  its  finer  qualities  of  color, 
form  and  flavor  have  gradually  come  in,  —  flowers  on  bush 
and  tree,  arching  limbs  and  drooping  boughs  out  in  the 
stately  woods,  sweet  and  nourishing  pulps  in  and  around 
the  seeds,  and  fragrant  odors  wafted  on  the  evening  gale  ;  — 
these,  moreover,  not  merely  as  ornaments  to  themselves  or  as 


170  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

foods  for  other  creatures,  but  as  forces,  also,  which  primarily 
they  all  are,  in  their  own  struggle  for  life, —  arms  and 
armor  in  the  same  way  as  are  the  senses  and  the  higher 
faculties  that  have  played  such  an  important  part  in  the 
battles  of  the  animal  kingdom. 

With  the  finer  qualities  themselves,  an  ingenuity  and  skill 
have  also  been  developed  in  their  use  and  application,  which 
seem  sometimes  to  be  almost  human.  Not  a  few  of  the 
arts  and  devices  of  mimicry,  that  are  so  wonderful  among 
animals,  have  their  counterparts  in  plants.  How  they 
huddle  together  in  glorious  companionship  for  defense 
against  heat  and  cold.  With  what  architectural  wisdom 
they  send  out  their  roots  and  build  up  and  balance  their 
branches  so  as  to  hold  and  fortify  their  positions  against 
gravity  and  wind.  With  what  shrewdness,  while  some  of 
them  hide  from  animals  and  men,  others  find  their  protec- 
tion by  following  in  their  steps.  And  when  domesticated 
and  hedged  in  with  fences,  and  defended  with  hoes,  how 
winningly  for  more  of  such  armor,  do  they,  as  flowers,  put 
on  their  brightest  colors,  and  as  fruits  clothe  themselves  in 
their  richest  pulps. 

Especially  do  their  wisdom  and  care,  not  to  say  love, 
come  out  in  what  they  do  for  their  young.  All  plants,  the 
same  as  all  animals,  seem  to  reach  the  best  they  are  capable 
of  in  their  position  as  parents, —  sonship  being  apparently 
the  axil  out  of  Avhich  branches  all  good,  vegetable,  animal, 
human,  and,  if  Christianity  be  true,  even  Divine.  Un- 
able to  protect  their  fruit  with  claws  and  wings,  like  beasts 
and  birds,  they  do  so,  while  it  is  immature,  by  making  its 
color  green,  like  that  of  their  leaves,  so  as  to  hide  it  from 
view,  and  its  taste  sour  and  bitter,  so  that  no  ordinary 
creature  Avould  think  of  putting  it  into  its  stomach.  But 
when  it  is  ripe,  and  there  is  need  of  its  being  scattered 
away  from  its  parent  stalk  to  find  room  and  warmth  for 
its  own  further  growth,  they  put  on  it,  in  direct  contrast  with 
their  leaves,  all  the  bright  colors  of  the  cherry,  berry, 
apple,  peach  and  pear,  so  as  to  attract  the  attention  of 
passers-by,  and  make  its  outside  luscious  and  sweet  as  an  in- 
ducement for  them  to  eat  of  it  and  carry  it  off,  —  at  the 
same  time  wra])ping  its  inside  germ,  and  that  germ's  own 
special  nutriment,  in  an  armor  which  is  ])roof  against  the 
digestive  assaults  of  even  a  wild  animal's  stomach.*     How 


'Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  XXV.,  p.  4.'J3. 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  171 

much  is  all  this  like  the  Imman  mother  keeping  her  darling 
boy  inconspicuous  at  home  during  the  first  years  of  his 
life,  but  who,  when  the  time  comes  for  sending  him  out  into 
the  world  to  get  his  own  living,  takes  off  his  old  homespun, 
dresses  him  up  in  his  best  clothes,  and  puts  a  little  money 
in  his  pocket,  the  sinews  of  war  with  which  he  is  to  pay 
his  way  to  a  new  home  and  begin  his  battle  of  life,  and 
beneath  this,  right  around  his  heart,  the  armor  of  a  Bible, 
or  of  principles  and  good  advice,  to  keep  him  in  his  inex- 
perience from  being  at  once  the  world's  prey.  Fruits  like 
those  of  the  hickory-tree,  whose  sweetness  is  wholly  in 
their  meat,  are  provided  with  a  bitter  outside  covering, 
which,  instead  of  growing  bright  and  eatable  with  their 
ripening,  simply  opens,  when,  in  the  frosty  Autumn,  they 
drop  from  their  parent  tree,  exposing  a  white  inside  shell 
very  conspicuous  for  boys  and  squirrels  to  see  and  gather, 
but  at  the  same  time  a  veritable  fort,  built  with  all  manner 
of  intricate  casements,  salient  angles,  and  retreating  walls, 
that  only  nut-crackers  and  the  sharpest  teeth  can  storm  and 
break  through.  The  cocoa-tree,  having  a  large  heavy  nut 
whose  hard  shell  would  be  liable  to  crack  open  in  falling 
from  its  high  limbs  to  the  ground,  wraps  it  up  before-hand 
in  a  soft  cushion-like  matting,  as  its  defense  against  the 
hard  earth.  And  more  ingenious  still,  the  cashew-nut, 
growing  in  tropical  climates  and  much  loved  by  monkeys, 
has  in  its  immediate  covering  a  pungent,  acrid  acid,  which, 
touched,  burns  not  only  their  tongues  but  also  even  their 
paws,  so  that  not  even  a  hungry  monkey,  after  one  experi- 
ence with  its  armor,  can  be  tempted  to  fool  with  it  again  ; 
but,  as  an  allurement  to  secure  their  aid  in  its  dispersion,  it 
has  at  the  end  of  its  stalk,  and  independent  of  the  nut  it- 
self, a  most  delicious  edible  tuber,  which  they  can  have  and 
do  have  at  the  cost  only  of  giving  the  real  fruit  a  chance  to 
grow,  —  a  contrivance  equal  to  that  of  the  old  lady  who 
presented  the  boy,  whose  integrity  she  was  not  quite  ready 
to  trust,  with  a  roll  of  candy  for  carrying  her  package  of 
sweet  cakes  safe  to  a  neighbor,  but  at  the  same  time  wrote 
on  its  cover,  "  Wallop  him  well  if  you  find  it  opened." 

What  is  the  result  of  Nature's  experiment  here  as  to  the 
two  ways  of  arming  her  creatures  ?  As  told  in  the  broad 
pages  of  palseontology,  it  is  the  same  as  in  her  animal  king- 
dom,—  the  gradual  evolution  of  its  inner  and  liner  forms 
out  of  and  over  those  which  are  outward  and  coarse ;  the 


172  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

weapons  of  sweetness,  beauty,  grace  and  use,  above  those 
of  hardness,  hugeness,  acrid  juices,  and  outside  strength. 
The  flowering  plants  have  more  and  more  come  to  the  front, — 
the  white  lily  and  the  fragrant  rose  left  far  behind,  in 
their  struggle  for  existence,  the  old  hueless,  odorless  cryp- 
togams. The  grains,  with  their  great  heads,  have  grown  up 
over  the  graves  of  the  gymnosperms,  with  their  great 
bodies.  The  apple-trees,  the  pear-trees,  and  the  peach-trees, 
with  their  rich  fruit,  have  elbowed  out  the  seal-tree  and 
the  scale-tree  with  their  tough  skins.  And  the  graceful 
elm,  towering  up  over  the  cottage  roof,  looks  doAvn  the 
chimney  out  of  which  curls  up  to  it,  as  if  in  homage,  the 
smoke  of  the  carboniferous  palaeoxon  and  the  old  hirsute 
neuropteris.  It  is  a  struggle,  to  be  sure,  that  is  not  yet 
over,  a  war  whose  wilder  participants  are  very  far  yet  from 
being  all  subdued.  But  the  master  forces,  and  the  qualities 
and  reasons  which  make  them  masters,  are  plainly  to  be 
seen.  The  industrial  age  of  vegetation  has  come  in.  The 
work  of  doing  something  for  others  has  been  found  even 
among  trees  and  shrubs  a  mightier  weapon  than  any  art 
of  mere  individual  defense.  Plants  have  learned,  whole 
species  of  them,  that  it  is  cheaper  to  hire  other  tribes  to 
wage  their  wars  than  it  is  to  train  up  themselves  to  do  it ; 
learned  that  vegetable  gold,  heaped  up  in  the  orchard  and 
the  field,  will  turn  the  edge  of  vegetable  iron  hammered 
out  in  the  jungle  and  the  fen.  The  honey  that  attracts  the 
insect-tribes  has  done  for  the  flowering  shrub,  in  its  struggle 
for  existence,  what  no  hardness,  driving  them  away,  ever 
did  ;  and  the  luscious  outside  of  the  fruit  which  feeds  the 
birds  has  secured  them  against  foes  more  effectually  than 
any  bitter  rind  that  repelled  them  had  the  ])ower  to  do. 
What  does  the  cherry-tree  want  of  a  gun  of  its  own,  when 
it  has  made  it  for  the  interest  of  the  small  boy  to  sit 
patiently  with  one  all  day  keeping  off  the  too  eager  robins, 
by  giving  him  at  night  a  quart  or  two  of  the  red  balls 
that  it  spends  its  own  energies  in  ripening  by  the  thou- 
sand ?  What  need  does  the  wheat-field  have  of  building 
fences  against  encroaching  cattle,  when  it  has  allied  itself 
with  almost  omnipotent  corporations  to  surroiind  its  mil- 
lions of  acres  witli  barbed  wires,  and  secured  dignified 
legislatures  to  build  insurmountable  legal  posts  to  hold 
them  up!  How  vain  is  it  for  the  potato  to  distil  a  poison 
of   its  own  against  bugs,  when  out  of  its  rich  tubers  it  can 


The  Kvolution  of  Amus  and  Armor.  173 

pay  patient  human  fingers  to  feed  them  day  after  day  with 
imported  Paris-green  ?  And  how  smilingly  the  serried 
ranks  of  the  corn-field  can  straighten  up  their  own  spines 
and  use  their  green  blades  only  to  parry  the  sunshine, 
while  the  farmer  and  his  boy  bend,  their  aching  backs  and 
ply  their  sharp  hoes  at  their  roots  to  drive  away  and  put 
to  death,  as  no  skill  in  themselves  could,  their  thousand 
weed-foes  ? 

Ascending  now  into  the  kingdom  of  man  himself,  the 
evolution  of  what  has  played  such  an  important  part  in 
the  animal  and  vegetable  worlds  has  certainly  not  been  less 
prominent  or  less  interesting  in  that  of  their  head,  and  in  his 
struggle  for  life.  ^' Arma  viriimque  cano,'^ — not  unnatur- 
ally did  the  old  Latin  poet  put  the  two  together  as  themes  to 
be  unitedly  sung ;  the  ar'ma  perhaps  logically  first,  as  some- 
thing without  which  man,  surrounded  with  the  savage  wild, 
and  so  weak  in  himself,  never  could  have  been  man.  His 
earliest  weapons  may  indeed  have  been  the  nature-given 
ones  that  he  had  in  his  brute-estate,  fists,  nails  and  teeth, — 
the  ones  that,  in  all  emergencies,  he  falls  back  upon  still, — 
mingled  perhaps  with  the  bare  sticks  and  stones  that  he 
picked  up  in  the  woods,  — 

"  Anna  antiqiia  mantis,  ungues,  dentesque  fiiere 
Et  lapides  et  item  silvarum  fragmina,  rami,'''' 

as  wise  Lucretius  has  it.  But  when,  as  our  great  anthropoid 
ancestor^  he  came  down  out  of  his  tree-life,  he  had,  in  his 
fingers  able  to  grasp  a  club,  —  the  fingers  which  his  fore- 
limbs,  in  grasping  the  tree,  had  developed  into, — some- 
thing far  better  with  which  to  meet  his  foes  than  the  claws 
with  which  he  went  up  into  it ;  and  he  has  not  been  slow 
to  use  his  new  powers.  From  grasping  clubs  and  stones  he 
has  gone  on  to  grasping  repeating-rifles  and  dynamite-shells. 
There  is  no  chapter  of  human  progress  more  interesting  and 
impressive  than  that  of  its  arms-making,  unless  it  be  that 
of  its  arms-using.  All  tne  resources  of  art,  all  the  illumi- 
nations of  science,  have  for  ages  been  brought  to  bear  upon 
it.  Some  of  the  most  honored  names  of  antiquity,  though 
forgotten  now,  as  those  of  Luno,  Galen,  and  Andrea  Ferrara, 
were  the  names  of  sword-makers  and  armorers.  It  was  an 
occupation  not  considered  unworthy  of  an  Olympian  god ; 
and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  pages  of  Homer  is  the  de- 


174  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

scription  of  a  shield,  as  one  of  the  most  graphic  in  Walter 
Scott  is  that  of  a  sword.  Kings  sat  at  its  followers'  feet ; 
the  fate  of  empires  turned  on  their  skill ;  civilization  in  its 
onward  march  kept  time  with  the  rise  and  fall  of  their 
hammers.  And,  though  stained  with  blood  and  smoke  and 
hate,  their  products  have  been  plumed  also  with  some  of 
the  noblest  deeds  of  chivalry,  honor,  courage,  self-sacrifice 
and  manly  devotion  that  human  nature  has  ever  reached. 

But  amid  all  their  multiplied  devices  as  to  form  and 
mechanism,  the  two  methods,  the  two  principles  which  ran 
so  conspicuously  through  the  animal  and  vegetable  king- 
doms, have  been  equally  kept  up  in  that  of  man, — on  the 
one  side  a  stronger  outside  covering,  whose  efficacy  was 
chiefly  in  itself,  as  the  thick  garment,  the  bull's-hide 
buckler,  the  brazen  shield,  the  visored  helmet,  the  plated 
greaves,  the  glittering  coat-of-mail,  the  massive  fort,  the 
turreted  monitor,  and  the  steel-clad  ship ;  and  on  the  other, 
something  which  involved,  more  directly,  inward  skill  and 
power,  as  the  club,  the  spear,  the  sword,  the  cross-bow, 
the  catapult,  the  matchlock-gun,  the  rifle,  the  cannon,  the 
ram,  the  torpedo,  and  behind  them  all  the  cunning,  the 
courage  and  the  union  instinct  of  man  himself.  And  in 
the  struggle  between  them  here,  the  same  as  among  the 
plants  and  the  brutes,  the  result  has  been  the  supremacy 
of  the  inward  over  the  outward,  and  a  progress  ever  more 
towards  their  finer  and  more  inward  forms  tis  the  ones  on 
which  at  last  wholly  to  rely.  The  old  Bible  story  of 
Goliath  and  David,  —  the  one  a  giant  six  cubits  high, 
armed  with  a  coat-of-mail  of  ''five  thousand  shekels  in 
weight,"  and  a  spear  "  like  a  weaver's  beam,"  the  other  a 
ruddy  youth  armed  only  with  a  sling  and  five  small  stones 
out  of  the  bi'ook,  and  his  own  skill,  —  has  been  the  story 
of  the  ages.  The  barbaric  nations  have  always  relied 
most  on  outward  defenses,  the  civilized  ones  on  those  that 
require  inward  skill ;  and  victory  the  world  over  has  sided 
with  the  skill.  The  weapons  with  which  the  lloman  soldier 
carved  his  way  to  universal  empire  against  all  the  shields, 
greaves,  breast-plates  and  forts  of  his  foe,  were  the  short 
two-edged  broadsword,  nineteen  inches  long,  and  the  famous 
"  pilum,"  four  feet  in  length, —  himself  protected  only  by  liis 
own  stout  heart  and  a  very  light  defensive  armor.  The 
slender  spears  of  tlie  ancient  (ireek  infantry,  twenty-four 
feet  in  length,  and  the  lances  at  a  later  day  of  the  old  feudal 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  175 

cavalry,  projecting  ten  feet  beyond  their  horses'  heads, 
again  and  again  bore  down  in  battle  all  the  massive  jno- 
tective  defenses  that  their  opponents  were  panoplied  with. 
The  best  steel-plate  armor  of  the  Middle  Ages,  forged  with 
marvelous  skill,  and  completely  covering  the  person,  was 
no  match  for  the  arrows,  live  feet  long,  of  the  English  yoe- 
man,  hitting  the  target  every  time  an  eighth  of  a  mile  off, 
and  on  the  victorious  fields  of  Creey,  Poitiers  and  Agin- 
court  shooting  down  their  mailed  opponents  at  the  distance 
of  two  hundred  yards  ''  as  readily  as  if  they  were  naked 
men."  If  now  and  then  the  strength  of  the  armor  caught 
up  with  that  of  the  arms,  as  at  a  battle  in  Italy  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  loth  century,  where  they  were  so 
nearly  matched  that  the  two  opposing  armies  fought  fero- 
ciously for  seven  hours  without  having  a  man  killed  or 
wounded  on  either  side,  it  was  only  at  the  very  next  battle 
to  have  a  new  assailing  weapon  introduced  to  maintain  the 
old  supremacy,  —  as,  in  this  case,  musketry  at  the  battle  of 
Pavia,*  before  which  all  the  gorgeous  panoply  of  chivalry 
went  down  as  completely  as  the  fields  of  bearded  grain 
before  the  driving  summer  hail.  Waterloo  was  the  last 
great  fight  in  which  bodily  armor  was  used,  Napoleon's 
cavalry  wearing  it,  and  up  to  that  time  with  some  success  ; 
but  in  the  charges  there  made  his  iron-sheathed  cuirassiers 
went  down  like  rows  of  pins  before  the  quick-moving  Eng- 
lish horse  dashing  in  upon  them  with  only  naked  swords 
and  naked  hands.  The  contest  now  is  between  massive 
forts  and  steel-clad  ships,  with  ever  thicker  and  thicker 
plates,  on  the  one  side,  and  mathematically-aimed  mortars 
and  steel-wrought  rams  and  cannon,  and  projectiles  them- 
selves shot-loaded, —  cannon  fired  from  cannon, —  with  ever 
more  and  more  size  and  force,  on  the  other.  But  with  mortars 
dropping  shells  from  above  at  the  rate  of  one  a  minute  into 
forts  three  or  four  miles  away,  and  torpedo-boats  creeping 


*  Beekman ;  questioned,  however,  by  Buckle  and  others.  Mortars  and  can- 
non lor  gunpowder  were  invented  nnich  earlier,  but  being  made  in  part  of  wood 
and  even  of  leather  were  of  little  account.  I'avia  was,  perhaps  the  first  battle 
at  which  troops  in  large  numbers  were  armed  with  the  more  efficient  musket. 
It  took  even  then  a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  load  and  fire  one, —  a  striking  contrast 
with  our  sixty-shot-a-minute  repeating  rifies.  The  use  of  the  mortar  was  dis- 
covered by  accident,  a  clumsy  fellow  making  powder  in  tlie  common  household 
utensil,  allowing  it  to  explode  and  knock  him  across  tlie  room.  The  same  objec- 
tion was  urged  at  fir-t  against  the  use  of  all  firearms,  and  even  of  cross-bf)ws, 
that  is  now  mnde  against  dynamite-bombs, —  they  were  too  democratic  and  too 
equalizing  for  honorable  war.  Chevalier  Bayard  "is  said  to  have  exclaimed  with 
reference  to  them,  "  ("est  tmr  hotitp  qii'itn  /lomrnr  tie  rceiir  unit  pxpos^  a  prrir 
pnr  Kiip  misrrnhlp  fr)q>ip)irllr."  And  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  he,  tlie  hero  of 
a  hundred  knightly  battles,  met  his  own  death  at  last  by  a  stone  shot  from  an 
arquebus. 


176  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

under  plated  frigates  from  below  as  readily  as  eels  under  a 
plank,  and  projectiles  driven  with  smokeless  powder  thi'ough 
live  inches  of  steel  backed  with  fifteen  of  oak  as  easily  as 
a  boy's  teeth  pass  through  slices  of  bread  and  butter,  and 
dynamite-guns  throwing  from  the  shore  at  marks  two  miles 
otf  five-hundred-pound  explosive-bombs  that  tear  up  the 
heart  of  old  ocean  itself  for  a  hundred  yards  around,  who 
can  doubt  the  result  ? 

It  is  a  result,  moreover,  in  all  these  cases,  which  has  not 
stopped  with  teaching  and  helping  on  the  superiority  and 
evolution  of  an  ever  finer  and  finer  weapon  alone.  It  has 
taught  and  carried  with  it  also  the  superiority  and  evolu- 
tion, behind  the  weapon,  of  an  ever  finer  and  finer  man. 
It  has  done  it,  first  of  all,  in  the  artisan  who  makes  the 
weapon.  Rifles  that  shoot  sixty  balls  a  minute,  and  cannon 
that  send  hundred-pound  shells  through  twenty  inches  of 
solid  oak  and  steel,  do  not  grow  naturally,  like  teeth  and 
nails,  out  of  the  soldier's  own  body.  They  have  to  be 
invented  and  wrought  out  by  a  man  back  of  the  soldier. 
They  involve,  in  their  maker,  art  and  science,  skill  of  hand 
and  skill  of  brain,  —  immense  amounts  of  them.  And 
what  is  more,  they  involve  in  him  honesty  and  truth. 
There  is  nothing  which  detects  cheap  workmansliip  and 
base  alloys  quicker  than  the  acid  of  war.  We  tolerated 
shoddy  in  our  sliops,  in  our  homes,  in  our  churches,  easily 
enough  while  peace  reigned  on  our  soil ;  but  when  it  came 
to  sending  it  to  our  soldiers  on  battle-fields,  America's 
outcry  of  rage  brought  its  dealers  to  a  very  sudden  halt. 
Kotten  timbers  have  small  chance  of  passing  the  inspection- 
eyes  that  fifty-ton  broadsides  of  iron  direct  against  them. 
And  when  you  touch  off  dynamite-guns,  that  exert  a 
pressure  of  a  hundred  tons  to  the  square  inch,  varnish  and 
putty  and  tlie  men  who  make  them  are  apt  to  fly  very  high 
and  very  far,  leaving  back  of  the  soldier  only  solid  steel 
and  solid  workmen.  Equally,  too,  finer  armor  has  evolved, 
in  the  soldier  himself,  an  ever  finer  and  finer  man.  It  is 
no  longer,  as  it  oiu;e  was,  physical  strength  alone  that 
counts  in  war ;  no  longer  tJie  more  a  brute  tlie  more  a 
soldier.  Gun])0wder  made  bodies  equal,  and  began  the 
process  of  having  battles  turn  on  brains.  It  is  a  process 
that  has  never  sto])ped.  With  rifles  like  those  now  made, 
as  delicate  in  tlieir  machinery  as  chronometers,  and  with 
cannon  that  have  to  be  aimed  at  foes  as  mathematically  as 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  177 

telescopes  at  stars,  it  is  obviously  impossible  to  trust  clod- 
hoppers with  their  use.  New  weapons  involve  precisely 
the  same  necessity  for  a  more  highly  organized  solaier  that 
new  teeth  and  new  claws  did  of  old  for  a  more  highly  or- 
ganized animal.  It  is  not  the  lighter  in  the  mass,  as  it  was 
in  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  but  the  fighter  in  the  man, 
that  makes  an  army's  strength.  With  each  more  intricate 
arm  more  responsibility  rests  on  the  individual  soldier,*  not 
on  his  captain  or  his  corps,  for  its  efficiency  ;  the  more 
need,  therefore,  there  is  of  his  individual  training.  Bayonets 
haife  had  to  learn  not  only  how  to  thrust  but  how  to  think. 
Battle-fields,  which  hitherto  have  been  supposed  to  necessi- 
tate the  most  absolute  despotism  in  command,  and  to  be  the 
last  places  where  personal  liberty  could  be  allowed,  are 
having  the  way  opened  through  their  new  weapons  to  taste 
for  themselves  what  they  have  won  so  long  for  peace.  And 
the  armor  which  began  with  a  sharp  animal  spine  is  mount- 
ing up  step  by  step  to  that  quality  in  the  soldier's  soul 
which  can  say,  in  all  its  sharpness,  the  grand  word  I. 

It  is  not  only  individuals  and  bnite  races,  however,  but 
tribes  and  nations  also,  that  use  arms  and  are  combatants 
in  the  struggle  for  existence ;  and  as  such,  they  are  going 
through  the  same  experiments  as  to  the  best  ways  and  means 
of  doing  it  that  animals  and  individuals  have  tried,  only 
on  a  larger  scale.  Originally  a  tribe's  entire  corporate 
body  was  a  soldier  going  out  to  battle  as  one  man.  Every 
male  member  of  it  was  accustomed  to  the  use  of  arms  alike 
in  war  and  the  chase.  Fighting  was  considered  to  be  the 
only  employment  worthy  of  a  man  ;  and  honor  and  leader- 
ship and  wives,  and  the  best  of  everything,  waited  on  his 
courage  and  success.  But  gradually  nations  found  tliat,  to 
fight  well,  something  more  was  needed  than  brute  courage 
and  the  rude  weapons  that  each  man  could  make  for  him- 
self. Food  was  needed,  and  finer  weapons,  and  resources 
to  fall  back  upon  when  the  struggle  was  long,  the  tribes 
which  had  the  most  of  these  being  the  ones  that  finally 
survived.  And  so  a  differentiation  took  place,  the  inevit- 
able process  in  all  Evolution, —  some  of  the  members 
devoting  themselves  exclusively  to  the  raising  of  food  and 
clothing,  and  others  to  the  manufacture  of  arms,  and  with 


*  See  H.  Ij.  Abbott's  article  in  March  Foriim  (1890)  on  War  uiuler  Xew  Con- 
ditions. 


178  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

these,  gradually,  to  all  the  employments  needed  for  social 
nourishment,  while  a  third  part  were  trained  specifically 
as  soldiers.  Thus  inside  the  nation  were  started  the  soft 
industrial  arts,  the  fluid,  nutritive,  growing,  organizable 
parts  of  the  body,  and,  on  its  outside,  the  hard  military 
protective  shell, —  precisely  the  same  state  of  things  that 
existed  in  the  earliest  forms  of  individual  life.  And 
along  these  two  lines,  away  up  into  the  civilization  of  to- 
day, has  been  all  national  development, —  these  as  methods 
of  protection  distinguishing  countries  in  precisely  the  same 
way  that  they  do  animals  and  plants.  On  the  one  hand  is 
outward  military  encasement,  as  with  all  the  great  nations 
of  Europe,  —  Orthocerates  and  Glyptodons  that  stretch 
over  vast  territories  ;  Megalosaurs  and  Machairoduses  whose 
dimensions  are  those  of  States.  Forts  and  frigates  are 
their  shells  and  scales ;  long  rows  of  sharp  sabres  and  glit- 
tering bayonets  their  teeth ;  vast  armies  their  ponderous 
jaws ;  Krupp-cannon  and  Gatling-guns  their  talons  and 
claws,  and 

"The  bursting  shell,  the  gateway  rent  asunder, 
The  rolling  musketry,  the  clashing  blade, 
And  ever  and  anon  in  tones  of  thunder 
The  diapason  of  the  cannonade," 

the  wild-beast  cries  with  which  they  leap  upon  their  foe. 
On  .the  other  hand  is  interior  development,  as,  in  some  de- 
gree, with  our  own  land, — the  skeleton  of  a  better  social 
organization  for  the  uniting  and  upholding  of  the  body  as 
a  whole,  the  nerves  and  arteries  of  telegraphs  and  railroads 
for  the  quicker  and  closer  communication  of  part  with 
part,  the  muscles  and  ligaments  of  industry  and  business 
lor  the  obtaining  of  better  nourishment,  and  the  eyes,  ears 
and  brain  of  more  schools,  more  arts  and  sciences  and  more 
cliurclies,  for  the  gathering  of  knowledge  and  the  growth 
of  mind. 

AYhich  of  these  methods  is  it  the  part  of  true  statesman- 
ship to  empliasize  and  use  ?  There  is  a  tendency  even  in 
t)ur  own  land  to  fall  back  on  tlie  method  of  outward  force. 
"We  get  alarmed  ever  and  anon  at  what  we  call  our  de- 
fenseless condition, —  at  oiir  small  army,  our  rotting  gun- 
boats, and  our  dilapidated  forts.  We  picture  to  ourselves 
what  a  terrible  thing  it  would  be  if  some  little  country 
witli  a  big  cannon  should  declare  war  against  us  ;  and  follow 
with  boyish  pride  the  excursions  of  our  costly  show-frigates 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  179 

into  ports  where  our  protective  commercial  policy  has 
driven  from  the  seas  every  flag  of  ours  needing  protection. 
And  this  very  Winter  the  proposition  is  before  our  Congress 
to  vote  the  nation's  money  by  the  score  of  millions  for 
the  building  of  a  steel-clad  navy  that  shall  match  those  of 
the  old  world. 

But  if  there  is  anything  to  be  learned  from  the  long 
experience  of  the  mighty  past,  alike  animal  and  human, 
is  not  the  question's  true  answer  largely,  if  not  entirely, 
the  other  way, —  an  answer  that  tells  us  to  go  on  as  we  have 
in  part  begun,  and  as  the  real  genius  of  our  country 
prompts,  letting  Germany,  Eussia  and  France  follow  the 
lead  of  the  Dinichthys  and  the  Megalosaur  in  heaping  up 
outward  armor,  while  we  seek  to  develop  as  the  man-nation 
of  the  earth  by  unfolding  from  within  ?  It  is,  indeed, 
true  that  the  man-animal  of  the  earth  has  -been  a  fighter, 
—  one  of  the  worst ;  and  that  all  the  world's  great  historic 
nations  have  been  fighters,  and  terrible  ones,  too ;  but  the 
poir^  to  be  remembered  is  that  they  have  got  their  best 
means  of  fighting,  got  the  real  qualities  which  enabled 
them  to  come  off  victors  in  their  fights,  by  cultivating  the 
arts  of  peace  rather  than  those  of  war.  "A  nation  of 
shop-keepers  ! "  exclaimed  Napoleon,  contemptuously,  as  he 
looked  across  the  English  Channel;  but  one  day,  in  his 
dealings  with  the  shop-keepers,  he  found,  very  uncomfort- 
ably, that  among  their  wares  they  had  a  Waterloo.  How 
was  it  in  the  recent  struggle  on  our  own  soil  between  the 
North  and  the  South  ?  The  South  was  the  military  part  of 
the  nation.  It  had  the  most  accomplished  generals.  Its 
children  had  been  trained  from  their  youth  up  in  the  use 
of  arms ;  and  in  courage  and  in  direct  fighting  qualities  it 
certainly  was  not  inferior  to  the  North.  But  the  North 
had  the  freedom,  the  wealth,  the  inventive  genius,  the 
mental  training,  the  higher  interior  development,  —  all 
those  qualities  which  are  the  outgrowth  of  peace.  It 
called  them  at  once  into  action ;  —  where  it  wanted  a  new 
rifle,  new  war-ship,  new  sanitary  device,  called  on  its 
rear  guard,  back  of  all  other  rear  guards,  to  invent  it. 
The  rear  guard  never  failed  to  do  so ;  and  the  resvilt  was 
just  as  certain  with  the  first  gun  at  Sumter,  as  with  the  last  at 
Appomatox  Court-House, —  was  wrought  out  by  the  school- 
mistress and  the  aproned  mechanic  quite  as  largely  as  by  the 
brave  general  and  the  baimered  soldier.     It  has  beeu  said 


180  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

that  the  nations  which  shorten  their  swords  lengthen  their 
borders, —  historically  a  fact.  But,  ultimating  the  same 
principle,  we  are  now  learning  that  the  nations  which  go 
still  further,  and  shorten  their  swords  into  nothing  at  all, 
lengthen  their  borders  still  more, —  and  at  the  same  time 
lengthen  their  lives.  Wherein  is  the  wisdom  of  voting  mil- 
lions of  dollars  for  forts  and  frigates  which  in  a  few  years 
will  be  as  passe  as  cross-bows  and  coats-of-mail,  and  when 
the  genius  that,  by  its  other,  liner  inventions,  is  to  make 
them  so,  is  growing  of  itself  in  our  laboratories  and  Avork- 
sliops  ?  It  is  the  people  hereafter  who  can  raise  Ericssons, 
not  Napoleons,  send  to  the  field  the  best  manhood,  not 
the  biggest  mortars,  boast  the  completest  social,  not 
soldierly  organization,  that  can  laugh  at  their  foes.  "  Damn 
the  torpedoes ! "  shouted  the  grim  old  naval  hero  of  our 
civil  war,  as  he  took  his  unarmored  flagship  into  the  hottest 
hell  of  the  fight  at  Mobile  Bay  ;  and  well  the  old  Hartford 
might  despise  them,  for  within  its  wooden  walls  were  iron- 
clad hearts,  and  above  it  waved  Liberty's  banner,  a^^  it 
was  sheathed  all  over  with  a  cause  that  gunpowder  could 
as  little  blow  up  as  it  could  omnipotence  itself.  And  no 
matter  though  every  sea  were  to  be  filled  with  explosives, 
and  every  bay  with  dynamite,  let  America  carry  stalwart 
manhood  on  her  decks,  and  unfettered  liberty  at  her  mast- 
head, and  the  sheathing  of  a  righteous  cause  at  her  prow, 
and,  if  need  demand,  she  can  go  into  the  hottest  hell  of  the 
world's  battle,  exclaiming  again,  with  the  sacred  profanity 
of  her  dear  old  Farragut,  "  Damn  the  torpedoes  !  " 

Of  course  this  does  not  mean  that  the  country  should 
rush  all  at  once  from  its  policy  in  the  past  over  to  the 
opposite  extreme ;  does  not  mean  that  in  the  interests  of 
peace  it  should  wipe  out  the  army  and  navy  and  beat  into 
])low-shares  the  swords  it  now  has,  or  that  it  should  abate 
in  any  degree  its  reverence  for  the  brave  soldiers  on  its 
own  soil,  and  all  though  the  ages,  who  by  their  use  have 
filled  history  with  heroisms  and  the  world  with  salvations. 
For  peace,  when  it  comes,  will  be  the  result  of  evolution, 
not  manufacture;  and  evolution  here,  as  everywhere  else, 
must  have  the  root  and  stalk  of  the  past  on  which  and  from 
which  to  untold;  and  to  cut  down  the  armor-part  of  the 
l>ast  would  be  to  cut  down  the  very  tree  on  which,  as  things 
look,  its  flower  at  last  is  to  bloom.  But  it  does  mean  that 
we  should  recofrnize  what  has  been  the  bent  and  strain  of 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  181 

Nature  in  all  her  kingdoms  and  all  her  ages,  and  ourselves 
work  with  her  in  the  same  direction.  It  does  mean  that, 
without  destroying  what  now  is  on  her  armor-tree,  we 
should  join  with  her,  so  far  as  we  do  anything,  in  cultivat- 
ing its  finer  industrial  branches,  as  good  alike  for  peace  or 
war, —  not  spend  our  millions  in  merely  crowding  it  with 
bigger  ones  of  the  old  type  that  will  be  of  value  for  neither 
state. 

It  is  in  this  way,  by  a  simple  and  natural  unfolding  from 
the  past,  not  cutting  loose  from  it  or  sticking  to  it,  that 
will  come  the  supreme  stage  in  the  evolution  of  arms  and 
armor,  —  that  in  which  Avars  will  be  waged  with  no  guns, 
no  forts,  no  ships,  no  outward  explosives  at  all;  with  no 
need,  therefore,  even  of  the  arts  that  made  them, —  but 
with  missiles  only  that  are  forged  out  of  mind.  So  far  as 
fighting  of  some  kind  is  concerned  it  would  indeed  be  a 
fool's  security  for  humanity  to  suppose  that  its  days  are 
over,  and  that  peace  in  the  sense  of  harmony  is  close  at 
hand.  Problems  are  before  it  to-day  more  perplexing  than 
any  that  the  past  has  ever  known ;  passions  at  work  in  it 
fiercer  than  ever  fired  hearts  in  the  jungle  with  rage ;  inter- 
ests at  stake  with  it  more  conflicting  than  any  that  a  Mar- 
athon or  Waterloo  decided, — and  there  is  no  possibility  of 
settling  them  without  contests.  It  is  their  very  greatness 
and  intricacy,  however,  that  are  going  to  make  it  all  the 
more  a  matter  not  of  sentimental  choice  but  of  military 
necessity,  to  meet  them  with  weapons  of  a  corresponding 
substance  and  temper.  It  is  a  process  that  has  already 
begun,  a  new  bud  that,  like  all  buds,  is  springing  directly 
from  the  axil  of  the  old  war-tree.  The  best  general,  even 
now,  is  not  he  who  fights  the  most  battles  with  guns,  but 
he  who  so  maneuvers  his  army  as  to  win  victories  with  the 
fewest  actual  conflicts ;  not  he  who,  when  a  battle  comes, 
takes  part  himself  in  the  deadly  charge,  but  he  who  sits 
quietly  in  his  tent  with  a  map  before  him,  directing  charges 
with  a  pencil's  point,  and  neither  sees  nor  sheds  personally 
a  drop  of  blood.  Literature  in  all  ages  has  had  its  words 
that  were  half-battles ;  eloquence  its  vibrations  of  air  that 
have  shaken  the  world  wider  than  parks  of  artillery; 
religion  its  love-whispers  that  neither  Greek  phalanx  nor 
Roman  legion  could  withstand,  and  before  which  empires 
have  tumbled  down  as  readily  as  savages  before  canister 
and  grape.      Paws    and   claws,    if   not  yet  extinct,  have 


182  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Arr/ior. 

climbed  up  from  the  feet  into  the  forehead,  and  from 
weapons  that  scratch  and  tear  into  weapons  that  think  and 
plan.  It  is  brains  to-day,  behind  the  cannon,  that  are  the 
world's  real  battle-fields ;  ideas  that  are  battering  down 
strong-holds  which  shot  and  shell,  armored  ship  and  gap- 
ing mortar  have  knocked  at  in  vain ;  ink  that  is  solving 
questions  of  State  that  blood  has  only  confused.  And 
the  process  is  bound  to  go  on,  till  nations  shall  wage  all 
their  wars  with  logic  and  reason,  diplomacy  everywhere 
take  the  place  of  generalship,  battles  with  powder  and 
armies  be  as  vulgar  as  those  with  teeth  and  fists  are  to-day, 
and  civilized  countries  as  little  think  of  going  about  the 
world  armed  with  forts,  and  showing  off  frigates,  as  civil- 
ized individuals  do  now  of  going  about  society  with  bowie- 
knives  stuck  in  their  belts  and  revolvers  gleaming  from 
their  pockets.  And  this  is  what  every  citizen  can  help 
along ;  is  what  every  soldier  should  rejoice  in,  as  he  does 
now  in  the  introduction  of  every  finer  and  more  effective 
weapon ;  is  what  the  great  poet  of  England,  who  sang  so 
grandly  the  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade,  has  also  sung  as 
the  charge  of  all  the  ages,  — 

"Move  upward,  working  out  the  beast, 
And  let  the  ape  and  tiger  die." 

With  it  will  come  the  world's  real  struggle  to  see  which 
are  its  fittest  nations  to  survive ;  a  war  more  thrilling  and 
with  more  chance  for  real  heroism,  generalshij),  and  glory, 
than  any  ever  waged  with  outer  weapons  and  garments 
rolled  in  blood;  and  in  it  the  great  military  nations  of 
Europe  are  preparing  to  fail,  through  precisely  the  same 
causes  that  overthrew  the  monsters  of  the  geologic  ages 
and  that  have  meant  failure  in  all  time.  Their  vitality 
and  food-substance  are  going  too  largely  to  the  outside 
shell.  Internal  social  organization  is  being  neglected. 
They  are  not  keeping  up  with  tlie  world's  changing  intel- 
lectual climate.  And,  continually  rivalling  each  other  in 
the  size  and  strengtli  of  their  armaments,  they  will  drop 
down  at  last  in  the  fight  liketlie  Iguanodon  and  Glyi)todon, 
overcome  simply  by  tlicir  own  enormous  weight,  leaving 
the  great  scientific,  industrial  and  thought-using  man- 
nations  to  examine  tlieir  bones,  organize  over  them  tlie  new 
civilization,  in  which  ''the  war-drum  throbs  no  longer," 
and  hold  the  future. 


The  Evohition  of  Arms  and  Armor.  183 

"  Dream  not  that  lielm  and  harness 
Are  signs  of  valor  true : 
Peace  liath  higher  tests  of  manhood 
Than  battle  ever  knew. 

*'  Henceforth  to  Labor's  chivalry 
Be  knightly  honors  paid ; 
For  nobler  than  the  sword's  shall  be 
The  sickle's  accolade." 

The  lesson,  however,  does  not  stop  with  statesmanship. 
Keligion  is  a  fiekl  where  precisely  the  same  principle  is  at 
issue.  What  are  creeds,  forms  and  great  ecclesiastical 
systems  but  the  outward  armor  in  which  men  have  sought 
to  protect  the  inward  spirit  of  religion  ?  What  are  many 
of  the  churches  and  denominations  of  the  past  but  mon- 
sters of  the  theologic  ages,  rivaling  those  of  geology  in 
their  fierceness  ?  What  the  rack,  the  stake,  the  thumb- 
screw, the  inquisition,  and,  later,  all  the  awful  imagery  of 
eternal  suffering,  but  the  teeth  and  claws  and  jaws  of  the 
old  brute-world  reappearing  on  earth  in  subtler  and  sharper 
forms  ?  Their  use  has  no  doubt  been  honest  and  natural ; 
their  hardness  and  cruelty  have  been  thought  a  necessary 
means  of  defending  and  perpetuating  their  inside  truth. 
But  how  futile  they  have  been  !  How  many  of  the  old 
dogmas  are  now  as  dead  as  the  old  brutes  !  How  certain 
are  all  the  institutions  and  all  the  churches,  whose  trust  is 
in  any  outward  letter  or  outward  form,  sooner  or  later  also 
to  go  !  And  for  the  same  reason, —  the  use  of  their  vitality 
in  the  wrong  direction  ;  the  impossibility  of  anything  thus 
hardened  to  adjust  itself  to  the  world's  ever-changing  spirit- 
ual climate,  and  the  pressure  at  last  on  their  believers, 
under  the  effort  to  make  them  ever  stronger  and  stronger 
against  their  foes,  of  their  own  dead  weight.  On  the  other 
hand  Christianity  itself  lives,  the  great  spirit  of  all  religion 
lives,  because  an  element  within  it  has  always  acted  on  the 
other  principle, —  refused  from  the  start,  as  with  Jesus,  to 
encase  itself  in  any  words  or  forms,  used  its  Divine  food  for 
inward  growth,  adapted  itself  to  the  world's  progress,  and 
relied,  when  assailed,  for  its  real  defense,  on  the  inner 
Aveapons  of  reason,  spiritual  insight  and  the  power  of  truth. 
When  religion  first  started,  ages  since,  from  form  to  faith, 
from  outward  authority  to  iiiAvard  insight,  and  from  one 
vast  body  to  a  multitude  of  little  sects,  it  did  indeed  seem, 
from  the  ecclesiastical  standpoint,  as  great  a  mistake  as 


184  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

when  the  animal  kingdom  branched  off  from  a  shell  to  a 
back-bone,  and  from  a  Megalosaur  to  a  Microlestes.  But  the 
wisdom  wliich  has  been  vindicated  of  her  children  in  the 
kingdom  of  animals  will  just  as  surely  be  vindicated  of  them 
in  that  of  spirit.  And  if  the  friends  of  religion  want  to 
defend  it  most  effectively  of  all,  is  it  not  plainly  along  the 
line  of  its  interior  development,  rather  than  along  that  of 
building  it  into  creeds  and  fortifying  it  with  logic,  that 
their  work  should  be  done  ? 

"  Than  tyrant's  law  or  bigot's  ban 

More  miglity  is  tlie  simjjlest  word, 
The  free  heart  of  an  liouest  man 
Than  crosier  or  the  sword," 

Going  now  a  step  further,  does  not  the  same  principle 
hold  good  with  regard  to  morals,  right,  reform,  and  that 
greatest  of  all  organisms,  society  itself  ?  These  things 
are  precious  beyond  all  price,  have  grown  up  to  their 
present  condition  through  enormous  toil  and  suffering, — 
would  mean,  in  their  loss,  what  never,  perhaps,  could  be  re- 
stored ;  and  so  it  is  not  strange  that  men  should  seek  to 
protect  and  promote  them  with  rigid  precepts,  with  stern 
prohibitory  laws,  with  great  bodies  of  police  and  with  all 
the  weapons  of  courts,  jails,  scaffolds  and  penal  legislation. 
It  may  indeed  be  impossible  yet  to  abolish  such  things  alto- 
gether, as  the  safeguards  of  society.  Nevertheless,  even 
while  using  them,  must  it  not  be  acknowledged  that  they 
belong  to  the  Triassic  and  Mesozoic  rather  than  to  human 
social  States ;  are  Nature's  methods  in  the  oyster  and  the 
clam,  the  lobster  and  the  lion,  rather  than  in  the  man ; 
are  the  use  for  defense,  of  shell  and  scale,  tooth  and  claw, 
instead  of  sense  and  soul  ?  Whatever  the  good  tliey  do, 
their  defects  are  the  same  as  have  been  found  in  all  outside 
arms  and  armor,  from  tlie  brutes  up.  The  moral  vitality, 
alike  of  the  individual  and  of  society,  goes  into  their  ])ro- 
duction  and  support,  away  from  inward  growth.  The 
stronger  and  better  they  are  made  for  any  one  period  and 
condition  of  things,  the  less  easy  it  is  to  adjust  them  to 
the  world's  changes,  and  the  less  lit  they  are  for  those 
which  follow.  What  is  the  effort  to  put  down  increasing 
crime  by  increasing  laws,  an  experiment  that  every  unfold- 
ing social  State  goes  through,  but  a  renewal  of  the  old 
contest  between  stronger  scale  and  stronger  claw,  stouter 


The  Evolution  of  Amis  and  Armor.  185 

iron-plate  and  stouter  gun  ?  It  is  a  contest  sure  to  result 
at  last  in  a  dead  weight  of  legislation,  too  large  for  society 
to  carry.  Crime  in  it,  as  the  assailing  force,  will  continu- 
ally get  ahead,  the  same  as  in  the  struggle  between  tooth 
and  scale  in  geology,  between  thieving  and  law  in  England 
a  century  ago,  and  between  landlord-legislation  and  ten- 
antry-violence in  Ireland  to-day.  And  even  were  such 
efforts  successful, —  were  laws  to  be  made  so  wise,  and  a 
police-force  established  for  their  enforcement  so  strong,  as 
to  suppress  absolutely,  for  the  time  being,  all  vice  and  all 
crime, —  how  inevitably  would  they  lead  to  a  reliance  on 
these  agencies  alone,  and  to  a  relaxation  of  inward  culture 
that  in  the  end  would  stop  growth  and  turn  society  back 
towards  its  mollusk-state.  Take  the  use  of  prohibitory 
laws  in  behalf  of  temperance, —  whatever  their  value,  a 
real  value  in  some  respects,  it  must  be  confessed  that  just 
in  proportion  as  they  are  enforced,  the  other  and  finer 
agencies  of  the  cause,  which  should  act  on  the  drunkard's 
moral  nature  to  strengthen  that,  are  liable  to  be  dropped, 
leaving  him,  while  safe  from  drink  simply  because  he  can- 
not get  it,  a  prey  all  the  more  to  other,  worse  vices,  whose 
means  of  indulgence  no  laws  can  stamp  out.  What 
children  are  the  weakest  and  surest  to  fall,  when  they 
grow  up  and  go  out  into  the  temptations  and  trials  of 
actual  life  ?  Those,  notedly,  who  have  been  sheltered 
most  carefully  by  home  walls  and  parental  care  from  all 
contact  with  evil,  rather  than  those  who  have  been 
strengthened  inwardly,  it  may  be  in  the  very  midst  of 
temptation,  to  take  care  of  themselves.  What  is  the 
source  of  all  Phariseeism,  all  hypocrisy,  all  obedience  to 
the  letter  and  not  the  spirit  of  right, —  social  states  worse 
sometimes  than  open  vice  ?  It  is  the  attempt  to  make 
people  righteous  by  precepts  rather  than  by  principles ; 
to  protect  virtue  by  an  armor  of  rigid  rules  instead  of  by 
trusting  to  its  own  larger  development ;  so  that  wisely  did 
the  old  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  exclaim :  "  The  law  worketh 
wrath."  The  truth  is,  there  is  only  one  sure  way  of  arm- 
ing either  society  or  the  soul  against  their  foes,— the  way 
taught  by  all  the  ages,  from  those  of  geology  up, —  that  of 
completer  inward  equipment,  putting  nature's  moral  lime 
into  the  Ijack-bone  of  principle,  rather  than  into  the  shell 
of  statute-books ;  building  more  school-houses  and  more 
reformatories  in  the  place  of  more  scaffolds  and  more  jails ; 


186  The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

developing  more  eyes  and  ears,  with  which  to  see  and  hear 
the  right,  rather  than  more  teeth  and  claws  with  which  to 
put  down  the  wrong,  and  organizing  not  so  much  a  better 
police  as  a  better  people.  It  is  this  which  is  the  funda- 
mental idea  of  Christianity  ;  this,  what  it  means  by  its 
doctrine  of  faith  as  opposed  to  law ;  this,  that  it  has  come 
back  to  in  all  its  great  reformations,  from  that  of  Luther 
down ;  this,  the  goal  at  which  it  joins  hands  with  science ; 
this,  very  singularly,  that  is  the  real  meaning  to-day  of  a 
word  almost  too  hateful  for  utterance, —  the  blossom  in 
society  of  religion's  most  cherished  teaching  and  the 
outcome  in  morals  of  Nature's  divinest  struggle  for  life. 
Its  shortest  expres'sion,  "  liiglit  its  own  best  weapon,"  is  a 
Damascus-blade  that  what  battle-tires  have  tempered  and 
battle-blows  hammered  out !  Not  poetry  alone,  is  it,  but 
sober  fact,  that  "Thrice  is  he  armed  that  hath  his  quarrel 
just."  To  put  on  "the  breast-plate  of  righteovisness,"  "  the 
shield  of  faitli,"  "the  sword  of  the  spirit"  and  "the  whole 
armor  of  God,"  is  the  injunction  of  Hoplology  not  less  tliau 
of  Scripture.  And  it  is  as  true  of  social  safety,  as  of  national 
defense,  that 

"Were  half  the  power  tliat  fills  the  world  with  teiTor, 
Were  half  the  wealth  bestowed  on  camps  and  courts, 
Given  to  redeem  the  human  mind  from  error, 
There  were  no  need  of  ai-senals  and  forts.*' 

The  whole  subject,  thus  looked  at,  is  a  good  illustration 
of  how,  tlirougliout  the  entire  universe  alike  of  matter  and 
mind,  and  often  amid  the  greatest  apparent  contradictions, 
it  is  possible  that  one  increasing  purpose  runs.  There  is 
nothing  in  Nature  w^hich  at  first  sight  is  more  dishearten- 
ing than  the  awful  warring  of  its  creatures  one  against 
another,  provided  for,  as  it  is,  in  their  very  structure; 
nothing  which  to  many  persons  so  militates  against  tlio 
idea  of  a  loving  God  as  the  awful  cruelties  of  that  struggle 
for  existence  into  which,  with  no  choice  of  theirs,  all 
organic  beings  are  plunged ;  nothing  Avhieh  could  seem  less 
the  purpose  of  things,  especially  Avhile  the  monsters  of  the 
geologic  ages  were  being  brought  forth  ever  more  and 
more  terrible,  than  that  the  meek  and  the  righteous  should 
inherit  the  earth.  Yet  Avith  the  points  of  tooth^and  claw, 
"red  in  ravin,"  as  j)ens,  and  the  blood  of  her  myriad 
creatures  dying  in  battle,  as  ink,  she  lias  been  writing  all 


The  Evolution  of  Arms  and  Armor.  187 

the  time  the  first  pages  of  a  philosophy  under  which  of 
necessity  all  fighting  must  end ;  and  at  the  very  anvils  of 
war,  with  her  monsters,  brute  and  human,  as  smiths,  has 
been  forging  the  weapons  ever  finer  and  finer  that  alone  can 
overcome  violence,  and  which  only  the  righteous  and  the 
meek  inheriting  the  earth  can  wield.  And  in  all  the 
marvels  of  eastern  magic  is  there  anything  more  wonder- 
ful, more  unexpected,  more  beautiful,  than  the  story  that 
not  on  a  tree  transplanted  out  of  Paradise,  or  from  a  seed 
sown  in  the  gardens  of  sentiment  and  nourished  in  the  hot- 
house of  the  church, —  but  on  the  rude  stalk  of  war,  rooted 
in  the  dust  of  slaughtered  myriads,  spined  and  petaled 
with  the  sharp  points  of  tooth  and  claw,  sword  and  bayonet, 
and  budding  in  the  red  of  battle-fields, —  there  should 
bloom  at  last,  in  the  midst  of  a  hushed  and  waiting  earth, 
by  strictly  natural  laws,  the  snow-white  flower  of  universal 
peace, —  the  story  that  is  told  by  Evolution  in  this  chapter 
of  her  great  book  entitled  '*  Arms  and  Armor  "  ? 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  MECHANIC 
ARTS. 


BY 

JAMES    A.    SKILTON 

Author  of  "Evolutiox  of  Society." 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology";  Tylor's  "Primitive  Cul- 
ture" and  "Early  History  of  Mankind";  Crosier's  "Civilization 
and  Progress";  Joly's  "Man  before  Metals";  Evans's  "Ancient 
Stone  Implements  in  Great  Britain"  and  "Bronze  Implements  in 
Great  Britain";  Whewell's  "History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences"; 
Ewbank's  "The  World  a  Work-Shop,  or  the  Relationship  of  Man 
to  the  Earth"  ;  Ward's  "History  of  the  Ancient  Working  People"  ; 
"The  Hand,  its  Mechanism  and  Vital  Endowments  as  Evincing 
Design,"  Bridgewater  Treatise,  by  Sir  Charles  Bell ;  Adam  Smith's 
"Wealth  of  Nations";  Lubbock's  "Fifty  Years  of  Science"; 
Janet's  "The  Materialism  of  the  Present  Day " ;  Routledge's  "Dis- 
coveries and  Inventions  of  the  Nineteenth  Century";  Tyndall's 
"Advancement  of  Science"  (Inaugural  Address,  1876);  Franklin 
A.  Seeley's  "An  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  Inventions,"  "The 
Development  of  Time-keeping  in  Greece  and  Rome,"  and  "The 
Genesis  of  Inventions." 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  MECHANIC  ARTS.* 


In  starting  out  with  an  exhilarating  sense  of  freedom 
upon  the  broad,  wild  prairie  of  a  nearly  new  topic,  it  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  we  are  by  no  means  without  compass 
or  means  of  guidance.  Our  great  Master,  Herbert  Spencer, 
from  the  beginning  has  provided  a  place  in  his  S3''stem  of 
philosophy  for  the  mechanic  arts  and  their  evolution,  by 
establishing  and  declaring  the  principles  of  their  psycho- 
logical genesis.  Fiske  and  Romanes  have  followed  Mr. 
Spencer ;  and  therefore  if  we  at  any  time  lose  our  way,  we 
have  only  to  return  to  the  safe  starting-points  these  pilots 
have  fixed  for  us  in  the  new  psychology. 

Considering  the  world  as  a  work-shop,  and  man  as  the 
mechanic  who  is  to  run  the  shop,  the  particular  bogey  by 
which  we  are  met,  the  moment  we  begin  to  study  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  mechanic  arts,  is  the  carpenter  idea  of  Creation. 
Even  that  idea  places  the  mechanic  and  mechanical  princi- 
ples in  command  of  the  situation  at  the  very  outset.  But 
as  there  is  a  way  of  "  protesting  too  much,"  so  there  is  a 
way  of  conceding  too  much.  At  all  events  the  evolutionist, 
if  he  would  put  his  subject  on  a  sound  basis,  must  beware 
of  this  concession,  as  applied  to  the  Infinite  and  Eternal 
Energy  and  its  work,  and  reserve  the  ofiice  of  the  supreme 
carpenter  and  mechanic  of  the  world  to  be  conferred  upon 
Man  himself. 

The  mechanic  arts,  together  with  religion,  the  family,  the 
tribe,  the  city,  law  and  government  —  whether  of  status  or 
contract  —  and  civilization  itself,  ancient  and  modern,  all 
had  a  common  origin  and  a  common  expression,  at  the 
family-hearth  and  altar-fire,  which  was  also  a  forge,  located 
in  the  inclosure  which  was  at  once  a  house,  a  shop,  and  a 
sanctuary.  And  tracing  back  our  American  civilization  to 
one  of  its  origins,  we  find  it  in  hundreds  of  New  England 
structures  still  standing,  that  have  been  all  of  these  at  one 
and  the  same  time,  within  the  memory  and  knowledge  of 
persons  here  present. 

*  COPYKIGHT,  18!H),  by  James  H.  West. 


192  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

Doubtless  our  topic  omits  the  static  side  of  mechanics 
in  treatment,  while  it  preserves  it  in  memory,  and  confines 
itself  to  the  dynamic  side  of  mechanics.  But  we  may 
properly  take  a  brief  glance,  first,  at  man,  the  mechanic 
Avho  is  to  run  the  shop,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  him  a 
''Civil  Service  Examination"  as  to  his  qualification  for  his 
work  ;  and,  second,  at  the  world  considered  as  his  workshop, 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  quasi  inventoiy  of  the  materials 
and  forces  with  which  he  is  to  do  his  work. 

Without  man,  the  mechanic,  the  world-shop  would  have 
been  useless,  and  would  have  gone  to  wildness  and  waste. 
Considered  merely  as  an  organized  and  vitalized  machine, 
he  is,  in  himself  and  alone,  a  most  fit  and  rich  subject  for 
many  essays.  The  soundest  principles  of  construction, 
endurance,  economy,  capacity  and  variety  are  illustrated  in 
his  body,  Avhich,  according  to  evolutionary  theories,  both  in 
its  individual  and  racial  history,  has  been  built  up  from  a 
single  cell,  to  and  with  which  other  cells  have  been  added, 
integrated,  differentiated  and  specialized,  until  it  has  become 
a  machine  of  marvelous  efficiency  and  power,  operated  by 
the  consumption  and  at  the  cost  of  the  smallest  amount  of 
material  or  fuel,  made  capable  at  the  same  time,  for  long 
periods,  of  making  its  OAvn  repairs,  supplying  its  own  local 
loss  of  substance,  and  to  some  extent  of  organs,  keeping 
all  its  parts  lubricated  and  in  working  condition.  It  is,  in 
fact,  a  pattern  piece  of  automatic  mechanism,  that  is  to  the 
skilled  mechanic  an  object  of  profound  wonder,  interest, 
instruction  and  suggestion.  All  other  forms  of  animal  life 
also  have  their  mechanical  structures  and  relations  to  the 
world,  all  of  which  are  of  profound  interest  and  great 
value ;  and  many  of  which  show  greater  special  poAvers 
than  any  that  are  given  to  man.  In  fact,  when  we  consider 
the  size  and  strength  of  many  animals  still  extant,  as  well 
as  of  those  that  formerly  existed,  their  teeth,  their  claws, 
their  ferocious  natures,  their  special  superiorities,  the  won- 
der is  that  man  and  his  lineage  ever  survived  in  the  contest 
with  the  wild  beast  and  with  the  still  stronger  forces  of 
Nature  itself.  Mr.  Kimball  has  already  taught  us,  in  his 
admirable  essay,  that,  notwithstanding  these,  and  all  tlie 
terrible  implements  of  war  forged  by  man,  and  even  in 
accordance  with  natural  and  necessary  law,  the  meek  are  to 
inherit  the  eartli.  Biit  we  may  still  be  permitted  to  inquire 
a  little  more  fully  into  the  genesis  of  the  title  to  that 
inheritance. 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  193 

Compelled,  because  of  his  weak  and  relatively  helpless 
generic  condition,  not  only  to  take  to  the  woods,  but  to  the 
trees,  and  to  find  means  of  protection  and  defense  outside 
of  himself  and  his  own  natural  powers,  man  and  his  primor- 
dial types,  by  the  very  necessities  of  arboreal  life,  devel- 
oped not  only  the  liands,  but  the  arms,  with  their  co-ordi- 
dinated  capacities  of  flexure  and  rigid  fixture  in  an  infinite 
variety  of  positions,  the  chest,  the  bony  frame,  the  back, 
leg,  and  other  muscles  and  parts,  in  which  largely  reside 
the  mechanical  capacities  of  man  and  his  other  adaptations 
to  societary  life.  It  was  the  continual  grasping  of  the 
limbs  of  trees,  doubtless,  that  gave  to  the  hand  its  opposing 
thumb,  whereby  man  is  able  to  securely  hold  the  club,  the 
hammer,  the  spear,  the  lever,  and  also  the  scepter  of  the 
world,  of  which  these  others  are  each  the  analogue  and 
prototype. 

The  same  necessities  furnished  man's  primordial  types 
with  thumbs  on  the  feet  as  well,  which  still  appear  in  one 
stage  of  human  embryological  life,  but  disappear  before 
birth.  Under  the  influence  of  changed  conditions  resulting 
from  the  abandonment  of  his  perch  in  the  trees  for  terra 
firma,  man,  standing  and  walking  erect,  has  discarded  the 
thumbed  foot,  and  thereby  co-ordinately  increased  his  equip- 
ment for  the  various  motions  required  for  the  performance 
of  mechanical  functions,  and  for  making  and  managing  im- 
plements, tools  and  machinery. 

Long  before  our  ancestors  had  abandoned  the  trees,  they 
had  learned  to  use  clubs,  stones  and  other  missiles,  with 
the  same  hands  and  structures  that  enabled  them  to  swing 
from  branch  to  branch  and  carry  on  all  the  operations  of 
arboreal  life.  From  the  use  of  clubs,  spears,  arrows  and 
other  sharp-pointed  sticks,  in  war  and  in  the  chase,  to  the 
use  of  sticks  as  levers,  wedges  and  cutting-tools  of  all  sorts 
and  kinds,  for  the  purpose  of  upturning  stones  in  their 
search  for  snails  and  other  food,  for  digging  up  roots,  open- 
ing shell-fish,  preparing  their  weapons,  building  their  places 
of  abode,  etc.,  etc.,  the  progress  was  regular,  and  evidently 
systematic,  not  simply  in  the  external  sense,  but  in  the 
co-ordinate  development  of  brain  function  and  mass,  and 
the  beginnings  of  thought  and  reason.  Indeed,  it  seems 
clear  that  the  enlargement  of  the  brain  of  the  human  being, 
which  is  recognized  as  having  been  gradual,  must  have  had 
its  initial  impulse  and  opportunities  through  what  I  may 


194  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

call  the  mechanical  life  of  primitive  man,  beginning  as  he 
did  with  the  primaries  of  mechanics,  under  racial  limita- 
tions akin  to  infancy  and  its  helpless  conditions.  And  if 
man's  cerebral  development  began  with,  and  in  any  essen- 
tial way  was  accompanied  by,  liis  advance  in  mechanical 
practice  and  knowledge  growing  out  of  such  relations  to 
the  world,  it  is  evident  that  in  his  continued  progress  and 
development  on  the  earth  his  mechanical  relations  to  things, 
both  as  individual  man  and  as  societary  man,  must  be  con- 
tinued; or,  not  continuing,  he  must  relapse  toward  the 
primary  condition.  Hence  the  necessity  for  artificial  and 
scientifically  adapted  modes  of  physical  exercise  for  those 
otherwise  unable  to  obtain  a  uniform  action  and  develop- 
ment of  their  bodily  functions.  Many  men  seem  to  forget 
this,  and,  attempting  to  get  away  from  the  earth  and  their 
mechanical  relations  thereto,  seek  in  the  office,  the  study, 
the  counting-room,  the  pulpit,  the  professorial  chair,  to  live 
an  intellectual  or  brain  life  apart  from  a  physical  and 
mechanical  life,  with  the  inevitable  result  of  a  loss  of 
power,  not  simply  of  nuiscle,  but  also  of  brain,  accompa- 
nied by  an  unmistakable  tendency  to  perish,  or  to  relapse 
into  primeval  conditions.  Indeed,  while  the  earlier  Gospel 
teaches  that  the  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth,  and  tlie 
Gospel  of  Evolution  teaches  that  the  militant  man  is  to 
give  place  to  the  industrial  man,  we  still  make  the  claim 
that  the  man  who  understands  his  mechanical  relations  to 
the  world,  and  follows  that  understanding  in  practice,  is 
that  meek  man  to  whom  that  inheritance  belongs. 

It  is  not  alone  in  religion  that  a  monastic,  spiritualistic 
tendency  prevails.  All  men  recognize  that  it  is  necessary 
that  trees  and  plants  should  have  their  roots  in  the  earth 
in  order  to  obtain  therefrom  their  sustenance  and  means  of 
life-maintenance.  But  some  men  seem  to  think  that  the 
law  does  not  apply  to  men  —  that  there  is  a  degrading 
element  in  the  very  touch  of  material  things.  For  tlieni 
the  old  fable  contains  a  lesson :  The  son  of  Mother  Earth 
could  not  be  overthrown  so  long  as  his  feet  rested  upon  tlie 
ground ;  and  the  first  step  in  his  overthrow  consisted  in 
lifting  him  from  the  eartli,  whereupon  he  was  easily  con- 
quered. The  same  is  true  of  civilized  man  considered  as  a 
son  of  the  earth  ;  and  to  maintain  his  position  of  supremacy 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  his  meclianieal  relations  to 
the  world  and  to  things  should  be  comprehended,  maintained 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  196 

and  increased  in  scope  to  the  utmost.  From  this  point  of 
view,  it  appears  that  the  "greasy  mechanic"  may  not  fall 
far  short  of  becoming  the  true  prince  of  the  race. 

But  in  considering  man  in  his  present  bodily  and  perfected 
machine  form,  we  have  passed  by  the  germinal  conditions 
out  of  which  the  machine  grew,  with  brief  notice,  and  may 
therefore  have  missed  important  principles,  more  easily 
detected  when  the  less  complex,  more  homogeneous  and 
total  primitive  conditions  are  carefully  inspected. 

Beginning  with  the  Amceba,  as  it  wraps  itself  round  and 
gradually  includes  the  small  nutritive  fragments  it  meets 
with,  even  before  there  are  either  prehensile  or  digestive 
organs,  Mr,  Spencer  finds  that  "  The  fundamental  attribute 
of  matter  is  resistance,"  and  that  "The  fundamental  sense 
is  a  faculty  of  responding  to  resistance."  He  further  says : 
"  And  while,  in  the  environment,  associated  with  this  attri- 
bute of  resistance,  are  other  attributes  severally  distinctive 
of  certain  classes  of  bodies,  in  the  organism  there  arise 
faculties  of  responding  to  these  other  attributes — faculties 
which  enable  the  organism  to  adjust  its  internal  relations 
to  a  greater  variety  of  external  relations  —  faculties,  there- 
fore, which  increase  the  specialty  of  the  correspondence. 
We  see  this  not  only  in  the  rise  of  the  senses  that  are 
affected  by  the  sapid,  odorous,  visible,  and  sound-producing 
properties  of  things,  but  also  in  the  series  of  phases  through 
which  each  sense  advances  towards  perfection.  For  every 
higher  phase  shows  itself  as  an  ability  to  recognize  smaller 
and  smaller  differences,  either  of  kind  or  degree,  in  the 
attributes  of  surrounding  bodies ;  and  so  makes  possible 
still  more  special  adjustments  of  inner  to  outer  relations." 
(Prin.  of  Psy.,  p.  331.)  Through  these  processes  of  ad- 
justment, and  out  of  the  fundamental  faculty  of  responding 
to  resistance,  touch  eventually  develops  into  the  five  senses 
co-ordinately  with  their  special  organs,  with  limbs  and 
other  associated  members,  including  the  cerebellum  and 
eventually  the  cerebrum,  and  the  mind  as  a  totality.  The 
line  of  subsequent  advancement  proceeds  in  continuation 
of  the  antecedent,  as  agriculture,  the  arts,  and  social  life, 
in  the  factory,  the  shop,  the  highway  and  the  kitchen,  are 
developed. 

We  cannot  here  follow  Mr.  Spencer  step  by  step  through 
what  he  calls  directive  changes  and  executive  changes, — 
the    one   characterizing    Science  and   the  other  Art ;    nor 


196  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

through  changes  of  the  subjective  order  and  developing 
faculty  in  man,  interesting  as  it  might  be  to  do  so.  But, 
being  germane  to  our  subject,  we  should  notice  the  relations 
of  mechanisms  to  man  in  his  system  of  psychology.  He 
says :  "  All  observing  instruments,  all  weights,  measures, 
scales,  micrometers,  verniers,  microscopes,  thermometers, 
etc.,  are  artificial  extensions  of  the  senses;  and  all  levers, 
screws,  hammers,  wedges,  wheels,  latht  s,  etc.,  are  artificial 
extensions  of  the  limbs.  The  magnifying  glass  adds  but 
another  lense  to  the  lenses  existing  in  the  eye.  The  crow- 
bar is  but  one  more  lever  attached  to  the  series  of  levers 
forming  the  arm  and  hand.  And  the  relationship  which  is 
so  obvious  in  these  first  steps,  holds  throughout.  This 
being  perceived,  a  meaning  becomes  manifest  in  the  fact 
that  the  development  of  these  supplementary  senses  is  de- 
pendent on  the  development  of  these  supplementary  limbs, 
and  vice  versa."     (Frin.  of  Fsy.,  p.  365.) 

Romanes,  in  his  diagram,  places  carnivora,  rodents  and 
ruminants  at  Ko.  2Q  in  the  ascending  scale  of  animal  devel- 
opment, opposite  No.  26  in  the  scale  of  products  of  intel- 
lectual development,  which  is  stated  to  be  "  Understanding 
of  mechanisms  "  ;  monkeys  and  elephants  at  No.  27,  oppo- 
site to  No.  27  in  corresponding  scale,  "Use  of  tools"; 
and  birds  at  No.  25,  corresponding  to  which  is  ''  Recognition 
of  pictures.  Understanding  of  words.  Dreaming";  and  he 
thus  scales  the  highest  capacities  of  each.  My  own  birds 
I  see  every  day  showing  understanding  of  mechanisms,  or 
qualifications  for  the  grade  of  No.  26,  one  grade  above  that 
allotted  them  by  Romanes. 

Dealing  with  the  root  principles  of  mind  and  the  "cor- 
relations between  muscular  and  mental  evolution,"  Romanes 
says  :  "  The  wonderful  intelligence  of  the  Elephant  may  be 
safely  considered  as  correlated  with  the  no  less  wonderfid 
instrument  of  co-ordinated  movement  wliich  he  possesses 
in  his  trunk  ;  while  the  superior  intelligence  of  the  Monkey, 
and  the  suprevie  intelligence  of  Man  may  be  no  less  safely 
considered  as  correlated  with  the  still  more  wonderful  in- 
strument of  co-ordinated  movement  which  has  attained  to 
almost  ideal  perfection  in  the  human  hand.".  .  .  "Tims 
the  two  faculties  are,  as  it  were,  necessarily  bound  together. 
Biit  here  another  consideration  arises.  They  are  thus 
bound  together  only  up  to  the  ])oint  at  which  the  adajitive 
movements  are  dependent  upon  the  machinery  supplied  by 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  197 

INature  to  the  organism  itself.  As  soon  as  the  power  of 
discrimination  has  advanced  far  enough  to  be,  not  only  con- 
sciously percipient,  but  deliberately  rational,  a  wholly  new 
state  of  things  is  inaugurated.  For  now  the  organism  is 
no  longer  dependent  for  its  adjustments  upon  the  imme- 
diate results  of  its  own  co-ordinated  movements.  From 
the  time  that  a  stone  was  first  used  by  a  monkey  to  crack 
a  nut,  by  a  bird  to  break  a  shell,  or  even  by  a  spider  to 
balance  its  web,  the  necessary  connexion  between  the  ad- 
vance of  mental  discrimination  and  muscular  co-ordination 
was  severed.  With  the  use  of  tools  there  was  given  to 
Mind  the  means  of  progressing  independently  of  further 
progress  in  muscular  co-ordination.  And  so  mavelously  has 
the  highest  animal  availed  itself  of  such  means,  that  now, 
among  the  civilized  races  of  mankind,  more  than  a  million 
per  cent,  of  his  adjustive  movements  are  performed  by 
mechanisms  of  his  own  construction.  Wonderful  as  are 
the  muscular  co-ordinations  of  a  tight-rope  dancer,  they  are 
nothing  in  point  of  utility  as  compared  with  the  co-ordinated 
movements  of  a  spinning-jenny.  Therefore,  although  man 
owes  a  countless  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  long  line  of  his 
brutal  ancestry  for  bequeathing  to  him  so  surpassingly'ex- 
quisite  a  mechanism  as  that  of  the  human  body  —  a  mech- 
anism without  which  it  would  be  impossible  for  him,  with 
any  powers  of  mind,  to  construct  the  artificial  mechanisms 
which  he  does  —  still  man  may  justly  feel  that  his  charter 
of  superiority  over  the  lower  animals  is  before  all  else 
secured  by  this,  that  his  powers  of  adjustive  movement 
have  been  emancipated  from  their  necessary  alliance  with 
his  powers  of  muscular  co-ordination." 

This  emancipation  of  man's  adjustive  powers  from  the 
limitations  of  muscular  co-ordination,  and  their  relegation 
to  his  powers  of  nervous  organization,  brings  him  into  co- 
ordination with  those  instruments  mentioned  by  Spencer, 
which  "are  artificial  extensions  of  the  senses,"  and  those 
levers,  screws,  hammers,  etc.,  which  *'are  artificial  exten- 
sions of  the  limbs."  Through  this  new  correlation  comes 
man's  power  not  only  to  understand,  but  to  master,  the 
world  and  all  it  may  contain.  In  other  words,  through  this 
new  relation  Man  becomes  one  member  of  an  equation, 
which  is  the  mathematical  expression  or  co-ordination  of 
which  the  other  term  is,  practically,  the  whole  of  Nature 
Avith  all  its  known  and  all  its  yet  undiscovered  wealth  of 
])Ossil)ility. 


198  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

It  is  evident  that  we  must  seek  for  the  beginnings  of  the 
mechanic  arts  in  the  brute  workl  below  man.  Darwin  says  : 
"It  has  often  been  said  that  no  animal  uses  any  tool;  but 
the  chimpanzee  in  a  state  of  nature  cracks  a  native  fruit, 
somewhat  like  a  walnut,  with  a  stone.  Kengger  easily 
taught  an  American  monkey  thus  to  break  open  hard  palm- 
nuts,  and  afterward  of  its  own  accord  it  used  stones  to  open 
other  kinds  of  nuts,  as  well  as  boxes.  .  .  .  Another  mon- 
key was  taught  to  open  the  lid  of  a  large  box  Avith  a  stick, 
and  afterward  it  used  the  stick  as  a  lever  to  move  heavy 
bodies.  ...  In  the  Zoological  Gardens,  a  monkey  which 
had  weak  teeth  used  to  break  open  nuts  with  a  stone ;  and 
I  was  assured  by  the  keepers  that  this  animal,  after  using 
the  stone,  hid  it  in  the  straw,  and  would  not  let  any  other 
monkey  touch  it.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  idea  of  prop- 
erty ;  but  this  idea  is  common  to  every  dog  with  a  bone, 
and  to  most  or  all  birds  with  their  nests.  The  Duke  of 
Argyll  remarks  that  the  fashioning  of  an  implement  for  a 
special  purpose  is  absolutely  peculiar  to  man ;  and  he  con- 
siders that  this  forms  an  immeasurable  gulf  between  him 
and  the  brutes.  It  is  no  doubt  a  very  important  distinction, 
but  there  appears  to  me  much  truth  in  Sir  J.  Lubbock's 
suggestion,  that  when  primeval  man  first  used  flint-stones 
for  any  purpose,  he  would  have  accidentally  splintered  them, 
and  would  then  have  used  the  sharp  fragments.  From  this 
step  it  would  be  a  small  one  to  intentionally  break  the 
flints,  and  not  a  very  wide  step  to  rudely  fashion  them.  .  .  . 
The  anthropomorphous  apes,  guided  probably  by  instinct, 
build  for  themselves  temporary  platforms ;  but  as  many 
instincts  are  largely  controlled  by  reason,  the  simpler  ones, 
such  as  this  of  building  a  platform,  might  readily  pass  into 
a  voluntary  and  conscious  act.  The  orang  is  known  to  cover 
itself  at  night  with  the  leaves  of  the  Pandanus  ;  and  Brehm 
states  that  one  of  his  baboons  used  to  protect  itself  from 
the  heat  of  the  sun  by  throwing  a  straw  mat  over  its  head. 
In  these  latter  habits,  we  probably  see  the  first  steps  toward 
some  of  the  simpler  arts ;  namely,  rude  architecture  and 
dress,  as  they  arose  among  the  early  progenitois  of  man." 

It  was  in  answering  tlie  question,  ''How  did  social  evolu- 
tion originate  ?  *'  that  i\Ir.  Fiske  proceeded  to  make  his  note- 
worthy contribution  to  the  study  of  the  subject,  in  which 
he  claimed  tliat  increasing  intelligence  in  our  early  ancestors 
resulted  in  a  prolongation  oi  the  period  of  infancy  among 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  199 

their  progeny  —  that  infancy  being  occupied  in  building  up 
the  nerve  and  brain  substance  which  were  to  be  the  organs 
of  that  intelligence,  increasing  them  in  mass  and  functional 
power  from  generation  to  generation.  In  reaching  this  con- 
clusion he  mentions,  but  objects  to,  Mr.  Darwin's  view, 
"That  men  were  originally  a  race  of  meek  and  mild 
creatures  like  chimpanzees,  and  not  a  race  of  strong  and 
ferocious  creatures  like  gorillas,  and  were  accordingly  forced 
to  combine  because  unable  to  defend  themselves  singly." 
Putting  the  question  in  similar  form,  I  venture  to  ask :  How 
did  the  mental  evolution  characteristic  of  man  originate  ? 
And  to  suggest  as  the  answer,  that  it  originated  in  the  ge- 
neric, or  racial  infancy  and  relative  weakness  of  the  early 
progenitors  of  man,  long  continued,  and,  through  natural 
selection  preserving  only  those  who,  fleeing  singly  to  the 
trees,  found  others  of  their  kind  seeking  the  same  refuge 
from  common  dangers  which  they  were  thenceforth  to  meet 
and  combat  in  common,  or  in  associated  numbers,  loosely 
organized  and  captained  by  the  strongest  and  most  intelli- 
gent of  the  band.  The  tree  thus  became  a  place  of  abode, 
in  fact  a  home,  and  a  house  of  which  the  leaves  fvirnished 
the  roof,  the  limbs  the  upper  chambers,  and  the  smaller 
branches  the  cradles  for  their  young.  It  would  seem  that 
the  real  strength  and  promise  of  the  human  race  have  lain 
and  still  lie  in  relative  racial  infancy  and  weakness. 

Constantly  surrounded  by  wild  beasts  —  foes  so  much 
stronger  than  themselves  —  we  may  well,  and  sympathet- 
ically, understand  how  the  mothers  of  that  early  time 
watched  over  their  children  by  day,  and  especially  how 
they  must  have  forbade  them  to  be  out  late  o'  nights  in  the 
streets  of  their  arboreal  villages  and  cities  ;  and,  thus  keep- 
ing them  at  home,  how  they  cultivated  from  generation  to 
generation  —  as  we  do  now  —  what  we  know  and  appreciate 
as  home  and  societary  life.  My  own  recollections  of  the 
maternal  slipper  do  not  go  back  so  far  as  that ;  nor  have 
my  archaeological  studies  yet  qualified  me  to  accurately  de- 
scribe the  instrument  used  on  such  occasions  by  prehistoric 
mothers  ;  but  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  something  was 
efficiently  used,  and  that  it  may  have  had  an  influence  in 
giving  man  his  upright  attitude. 

It  does  not,  then,  seem  to  me  a  mere  matter  of  fanc}'  to 
consider  the  period  of  arboreal  or  tree-home-life  as  the 
strictly  infantile  part  of  racial  development ;  the  subsequent 


200  £oolutioii  of  the  3Iechaitic  Arts. 

period,  during  whicli  the  trees  wore  more  or  less  abandoned, 
the  feet  placed  with  the  heel  bearing  firmly  on  the  ground, 
the  erect  walking  position  assumed,  and  during  which  calves 
were  being  grown  on  their  legs,  as  the  time  of  adolescence ; 
and  the  still  later  period  in  which  we  yet  live,  as  the  time 
of  perfecting  a  manhood  not  yet  perfected. 

This  suggestion,  it  appears  to  me,  furnishes  a  clew  to 
actual  history ;  for  when  we  come  to  consider  modern  in- 
vention, we  sliall  realize  the  absence,  and  the  need,  of  a 
suitable  explanation  of  its  genesis  as  well ;  since  the  con- 
stantly recurring  fact  shown  in  these  days  is  that  inventions 
are  not  made  by  the  strong,  the  rich  and  the  powerful,  but 
by  those  who  ai-e  seeking  to  become  so  by  growing  out  of 
their  subordinated  and  comparatively  weak  individual  and 
social  position. 

The  history  of  this  infancy  and  adolescence  is  chiefly 
written,  as  we  may  now  believe,  in  every  bone,  muscle, 
nerve,  tissue  and  structure  of  the  human  body,  including 
the  brain ;  and  the  history  of  this  manhood  will  be  found 
written  in  the  moral,  intellectual  and  social  develojiment  of 
the  race,  largely  in  the  ages  to  come,  since  we  are  still  in  a 
comparatively  primitive  stage,  having  as  yet  merely  begun 
the  work  of  mastering  Nature. 

To  briefly  catalogue,  now,  the  world-shop  and  its  contents, 
it  may  be  recalled  that  in  previous  essays  we  have  had  it 
explained  to  us  how,  through  the  action  of  the  rudimentary 
forces,  the  world  not  only  became  what  we  see  it  in  its 
physical  form,  but  also  how  it  became  a  reservoir  or  store- 
house of  forces  and  materials,  so  disposed,  arranged  and 
adjusted  as  to  make  the  earth  a  workshop  sufficiently  com- 
plete, had  we  been  here  then,  to  warrant  us  in  looking 
about  us  expectant  of  seeing  the  workman  and  mechanic 
standing  near  at  hand,  with  sleeves  rolled  up  ready  for  his 
job.  Everywhere,  and  in  everything,  the  earth  is  fairly 
throbbing  with  energy,  either  static,  to  be  let  loose  as  by 
the  touch  of  a  hair-trigger,  or  dynamic,  to  be  utilized  and 
controlled  by  the  movement  of  a  lever.  Gravitation  is  an 
engine  everywhere  and  at  all  times  at  work  —  in  the  solid 
earth,  in  the  Avater,  and  even  in  the  atmosphere.  To  this 
power  is  added  the  ])owers  of  wind,  water,  heat,  cold,  and  so 
on  to  tlie  end  ;  to  all  of  which  is  added  almost  inexhaustible 
and  cheaply  produced  animal  ])ower,  controllable  by  man, 
and  itself  inlierently  directed  by  an  intelligence  only  in- 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  201 

f  erior  to  that  of  man,  yet  easily  controllable  by  him,  so  long 
as  he  remains  a  man  and  does  not  descend  to  a  level  below 
the  beast  of  the  field. 

As  to  materials  for  the  hand  of  the  mechanic,  of  min- 
erals we  have  iron,  and  all  the  other  metals,  of  the  qualities 
of  which,  and  of  their  alloys,  we  have  only  begun  to  dream  ; 
coal,  and  other  fuels,  of  which  we  are  yet  only  intelligent 
enough  to  get  in  extreme  cases  some  ten  per  cent,  of  their 
dynamic  capacity  ;  innumerable  rock  and  stone  formations 
suitable  for  a  variety  of  xises ;  and  earths  and  plastic  sub- 
stances, capable  of  being  softened,  molded  and  hardened, 
all  of  which  are  so  disposed  as  to  be  readily  accessible  and 
reducible  for  mechanical  treatment  and  uses. 

Next  to  the  storehouse  of  minerals,  stands  the  vegetable 
storehouse,  containing  wood  and  timber  of  infinite  variety. 
Other  forms  of  vegetal  life  furnish  fibrous  substances  for 
ropes,  material  for  wicker-work,  basket-work  and  straw- 
plaited  wares,  and  especially  hemp,  cotton  and  flax;  to 
these  add  gums,  dyes,  medicines,  and  also  a  practically  un- 
limited variety  of  foods  already  discovered  and  brought 
into  use  as  fuel  for  the  human  mechanic  engine ;  besides 
which,  the  earth  contains  enormous  possibilities,  evidently 
unlimited,  for  the  production  of  other  vegetable  foods  of 
which  we  now  know  nothing,  since  we  have  hardly  begun 
the  improvement  and  development  of  Avild  plants  beyond 
their  wild  stage,  and  mostly  depend  upon  those  handed 
down  to  us  by  our  barbarous  ancestors. 

Next  we  have  the  storehouse  of  animal  supplies,  scattered, 
like  the  vegetable  supplies,  abroad  throughout  the  world, 
made  accessible  wherever  man  can  live,  and  especially 
adapted  to  his  needs  in  each  of  his  many  habitats.  The 
animal-supplies  come  from  the  many  kinds  of  land  animals, 
fishes  and  water  animals,  birds,  insects,  worms,  including 
the  silk-worms,  and  all  kinds  of  products  dei'ived  therefrom. 
Permeating  all  these,  in  sk}^,  air,  water,  solid  earth,  tree, 
plant  and  animal,  we  have  that  mysterious  energy  with 
which  we  are  only  now  becoming  acquainted  —  electricity; 
which  may  well  seein  to  be  a  power  stolen  from  the  gods 
themselves,  so  incomprehensible,  so  omnipotent,  so  omni- 
present, so  all-penetrating  and  pervading  is  it. 

To  these  make  that  most  important  addition  —  fire,  im- 
portant in  its  relations  to  the  family  hearth,  to  religion  and 
the  altar  fire,  but  especially  to  the  mechanic  arts,  and  with- 


202  Eoolutlon  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

out  which  civilization,  progress,  society  and  even  life  itself 
would  be,  for  most  of  us,  unlivable  if  not  unthinkable. 
We  can  only  glance  at  this  subject,  but  it  ought  to  have  the 
adequate  treatment  of  an  entire  essay,  so  important,  so  in- 
teresting and  so  fascinating  is  it.  To  us,  as  to  the  ancients, 
fire  seems  almost  as  elemental  in  character  as  air,  Avater  or 
sunlight ;  but  to  primitive  man,  what  a  revelation  it  must 
have  been  !  With  its  aid,  doubtless,  he  first  cooked  his 
food,  warmed  his  body,  cut  down  small  trees,  divided  them 
and  their  branches  into  clubs,  pointed  his  weapons  of  war 
and  the  chase,  as  well  as  his  rudimental  implements,  and 
made  his  primitive  boat.  While,  doubtless,  as  now,  when 
it  became  the  master,  fire  was  terrible  to  him,  in  his  hands 
it  must  at  times  have  become  terrible  to  his  enemies, — 
human,  part  human,  or  wild  beasts  of  the  forests.  Seem- 
ingly, man  must  have  lighted  his  first  fire  from  the  great 
interior  earth-forge,  to  which  access  was  had  through  vol- 
canic action,  or  from  natural  conflagrations  of  electrical 
origin.  Once  having  knowledge  of  its  value  and  power,  we 
can  see  how  by  mechanical  means  —  or  friction  —  he  might 
seek  it,  and  eventually  succeed  in  producing  it,  under  the 
stress  of  isolated  situation,'  and  struggle  between  cold  and 
death  on  the  one  side,  or  heat  and  life  on  the  other. 

In  a  lecture  of  brief  space  it  is  impossible  to  take  up  in 
detail  special  branches  of  the  mechanic  arts,  and  show  the 
principles  of  the  evolution  methods  working  therein.  But 
while,  as  has  been  stated,  little  or  nothing  has  been  written 
on  this  subject,  it  cannot  be  said  that  nothing  has  been  done 
to  illustrate  tliat  evolution.  In  the  National  INIuseum  at 
Wasliington  you  may  find  evolutionary  principles  aj)plied 
to  the  collection  and  arrangement  of  articles  illustrating 
separate  branches  of  tliis  art,  so  that  within  a  half-hour 
you  may  see  and  examine  original  specimens  of  all  that  has 
been  made  and  done  by  man  in  particular  arts,  from  the 
earliest  known  periods  down  to  tlie  present  year.  In  aj)- 
pliances  concerned  with  transportation  on  land,  you  will 
find  the  band  of  the  original  traiis})Orter,  Avhich,  being 
placed  across  her  forehead  with  the  two  ends  extending 
over  across  her  back,  was  first  used  to  secure  the  burdens 
to  be  transported  tlicreon,  by  tlie  primitive  or  savage  mother, 
woman  and  bui-dcn-bearer  (she  was  tlie  original  trans- 
porter); and  from  that  article  you  may  follow  every  step 
of  advance  up  to  the  most  perfect  locomotive-engine  and 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.       .  203 

vestibule-train  that  our  civilization  has  produced.  The 
same  is  true  as  to  water-transportation  appliances,  com- 
mencing with  the  log-raft,  and  the  dug-out,  and  ending  with 
cuts  '^nd  plans  of  the  three-pipe  steamship-flyer,  which 
makes  the  trip  from  America  to  Europe  inside  of  six  days. 
So  also  in  Aveapons  of  war  and  of  the  chase,  fishery  ap- 
pliances, household  implements  of  every  kind  and  type, 
wood-working  tools,  metal-working  tools,  stone-working 
tools,  musical  instruments,  and  many  others. 

Here  we  have  the  plan  of  the  museum  of  the  future,  one 
of  the  functions  of  which  will  be  to  put  us  quickly  in  pos- 
session of  a  knowledge  of  what  has  been  done,  and  of  how 
it  has  been  done,  leaving  us  more  of  the  precious  hours  of 
life  in  which  to  find  out  what  can  yet  be  done.  The  lesson 
everywhere  taught  in  this  way  will  be  that  invention  and 
human  progress  are  practically  one. 

Probably  in  no  other  place  in  the  world  is  there  such  a 
store  and  treasure-house  of  facts  showing  that  the  progress 
of  man  and  civilization  is,  and  only  is,  along  the  lines  of 
secondary  evolution,  or  that  kind  of  evolution  to  which  di- 
rection is  given  in  part  by  the  human  mind,  as  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Patent  Office  at  Washington.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  here  are  to  be  found  counterparts  to  every 
prototype  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  primary  evolution. 
A  digest  of  patents  in  any  and  every  branch  or  class  of  in- 
ventions, in  the  order  of  their  dates,  is  not  merely  a  study 
in  evolution,  it  is  evolution  itself ;  for  not  only  are  new 
species  being  originated,  but  also  new  genuses,  new  classes, 
and  new  orders  of  inventions,  all  covered  with  evolutionary 
earmarks.  Whenever  any  invention  is  made,  the  first  thing 
to  be  done  is  to  obtain  a  list  of  all  the  patents  in  tliat  and 
closely  related  classes ;  and,  studying  them  backward,  but 
with  evolutionary  principles  in  mind,  we  find  the  true  rela- 
tions of  the  new  invention  to  the  old.  And  only  when 
these  are  ascertained,  embodied  in  the  specifications  and 
claims,  and  accepted  by  the  Office,  can  the  respective  rights 
of  the  inventor  and  the  public  be  ascertained. 

What,  then,  is  the  genesis  of  invention  ?  At  the  first, 
brute  animal  strength  and  natural  mechanical  forces  are  the 
dominant  powers  in  the  world ;  and  what  better  could  weak- 
ness do  than  escape  to  the  trees  for  refuge,  and,  once  secure 
there,  for  the  time  being,  seek  to  reinforce  weakness  with 
intelligence  by  taking  time  to  think  ?     It  was  Aveakness 


204  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

that  drove  primordial  man  into  the  trees ;  it  was  also  weak- 
ness that  led  him  to  seek  for  the  first  accessible  assistance 
outside  of  himself,  which  would  be  perhaps  a  cocoanut  used 
as  a  missile,  but  more  probably  a  club,  later  to  becflfme  a 
lever,  and  eventually  to  move  the  world,  or  at  least  subdue 
and  master  it.  Invention,  then,  is  the  initiative  energy  out 
of  which  man,  society  and  civilization  have  grown,  and  with- 
out the  persistence  of  which  they  cannot  continue  to  ad- 
vance. It  is  certainly  tlie  basis  of  freedom  and  of  peace  : 
in  the  beginning,  of  that  kind  of  peace  for  which  one  has 
constantly  to  fight,  but  in  the  end  a  peace  assured,  and 
blossoming  into  acknowledged  freedom.  The  primordial 
club  eventually  becomes  the  scepter,  and  in  modern  times 
degenerates  into  a  mere  badge  of  social  order,  in  the  police- 
man's locust ;  it  also  differentiates  and  continues  to  differ- 
entiate, until,  through  the  lever,  the  inclined  plane,  the  wheel 
and  axle,  the  screw,  the  pulley  and  the  wedge,  it  develops 
into  all  kinds  of  machinery  and  mechanism.  In  this  differ- 
entiated form  it  still  represents  the  badge  of  authority  by 
which  man  reduces  the  forces  of  Nature  and  inferior  men 
to  obedience  to  his  will.  The  pen,  even  more  than  the  scep- 
ter, is  our  modern  badge  of  authority.  If  it  is  true  that 
"the  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword,"  it  is  because  the  pen 
is,  typically  at  least,  the  lever,  and,  like  it,  had  its  origin 
in  the  club  out  of  which  the  sword  also  was  developed. 

Bouvier  defines  '^Invention"  to  be:  "The  act  or  opera- 
tion of  finding  out  something  new ;  the  contrivance  of  that 
which  did  not  before  exist."  But  what  is  the  nature  of  the 
"act  of  finding  out"?  what  is  newness  ?  and  what  is  the 
nature  of  that  contrivance  which  "did  not  before  exist" 
but  yet  is  made  up  of  elements  that  have  existed  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world  ?  By  the  Courts,  invention,  as  an 
act,  has  been  defined  in  Ransom  v.  Mayor  of  New  York,  to 
be,  "  the  finding  out,  contriving,  devising  or  creating  some- 
thing new  and  useful,  which  did  not  exist  before,  by  an  op- 
eration of  the  intellect."  After  these  simple  explanations, 
you  find  yourself  floating  on  a  wide  ocean  of  definition, 
where  every  particular  invention  is  a  law  unto  itself. 

Walker,  the  most  recent  elementary  writer  and  authority, 
says,  "Novelty  and  utility  must  indeed  characterize  the 
subject  of  a  patent,  but  tliey  alone  are  not  enough  to  make 
anything  ])atentable ;  for  tlie  statute  })rovides  that  things 
to  be  patented  must  be  invented  things,  as  well  as  new  and 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  205 

useful  things.  The  courts  have  therefore  declared  that  not 
all  improvement  is  invention  and  entitled  to  protection  as 
such,  but  that,  to  be  thus  entitled,  a  thing  must  be  the 
product  of  some  exercise  of  the  inventive  faculties."  Jus- 
tice Matthews  of  the  Supreme  Court,  dealing  with  a  device 
held  not  to  be  an  invention,  said  in  1885,  it  "  seems  to  us 
not  to  spring  from  that  intuitive  faculty  of  the  mind  put 
forth  in  search  for  new  results  or  new  methods,  creating 
Avhat  had  not  before  existed,  or  bringing  to  light  what  lay 
hidden  from  vision ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be  the  sug- 
gestion of  that  common  experience  which  arose  sponta- 
neously, and  by  a  necessity  of  human  reasoning,  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  became  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stances with  which  they  had  to  deal."  To  which  Walker 
adds  :  "  The  ideal  line  which  separates  things  invented  from 
things  otherwise  produced  has  never  been  completely  de- 
fined nor  described.  There  is  no  affirmative  rule  by  which 
to  determine  the  presence  or  absence  of  invention  in  every 
case.  But  there  are  several  negative  rules,  each  of  which 
applies  to  a  large  class  of  cases."  The  practice  universally 
is,  to  judge  each  case  by  itself.  To  be  sure,  there  must  be 
novelty,  there  must  be  utility ;  but  both  those  terms  are 
loosely  interpreted,  and  give  us  no  certainty  of  definition. 

Etymologically,  to  invent  is  to  "come  upon" — the  word 
being  derived  from  in  and  venire.  So,  to  discover  is  to  un- 
cover. But  neither  of  these  terms  fully  describes  or  em- 
bodies the  idea  for  which  it  stands.  Invention  is  more 
than  mere  creation  —  it  is  a  dual  process :  it  involves  an 
act  of  the  mind  in  conceiving  the  idea,  and  an  act  or  series 
of  acts,  external  to  the  mind,  either  actually  or  amounting 
to  an  embodiment  of  the  idea.  Our  word  "create"  means, 
literally,  "  to  beget."  In  the  accovmt  of  creation  in  the 
Bible,  the  Greek  word  used  in  the  Septuagint,  which  has 
largely  influenced  our  English  translation,  is  a  form  of  the 
word  poieo,  which  means  to  compose,  as  a  writer  or  poet 
composes.  It  belongs  to  the  order  of  mind,  thought,  and 
their  constructions.  If  we  were  to  import  the  word  directly 
into  our  language,  we  should  say  :  "  In  the  beginning  God 
poietised  the  heavens  and  the  earth," —  i.  e.,  composed  them 
out  of  the  divine  mind.  We  thus  have  a  statement  in  some 
degree  in  harmony  with  the  evolution  view.  This  word, 
"poietised,"  would  express,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the  idea  of 
invention,  considered  as  an  act,  better  than  any  recognized 


206  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

English  word,  since  it  involves  a  ncAv  mental  composition 
and  the  substantial  reduction  of  that  composition  to  prac- 
tice. In  other  words,  invention  is  something  more  than  a 
creation,  if  to  create  is  to  beget  and  bring  into  being ;  since 
the  begetting  and  bringing  into  being  are  of  the  offices  of 
the  body,  while  invention  is  a  function  of  the  mind,  assisted 
by  the  body  only.  It  is  also  something  vastly  different 
from  a  mere  happening,  or  "coming  upon,"  the  idea  involved 
in  the  Avord  now  in  use. 

Mr.  Seely  suggests  the  word  "  eurematics."  He  has  dealt 
with  this  subject  in  two  papers  read  before  the  Anthropo- 
logical Society  of  Washington,  printed  in  the  American 
Anthropologist,  under  the  titles  "  The  Development  of  Time- 
keeping in  Greece  and  Rome,"  and  "  The  Genesis  of  Inven- 
tion." He  says  in  the  former :  "  My  guide  in  this  inquiry 
will  be  the  principles  in  eurematics,  that  inventions  always 
spring  from  prior  inventions  or  known  expedients,  and  that 
they  come  in  response  to  recognized  wa7its.  .  .  .  The  want 
may  originate  in  some  crisis  or  event  having  no  apparent 
affinity  in  character  with  the  want  it  engendered,  or  the  in- 
vention that  sprang  to  meet  it.  And  these  are  not  mere 
accidents :  they  are  the  natural  course  of  what  I  venture 
to  call  the  fixed  laws  of  eurematics." 

The  word  eurematics  (eurekamatics)  as  thus  defined  has 
already  found  its  Avay  into  tlie  Century  Dictionary.  It 
does  not,  however,  quite  fit  the  niche  prepared  in  this  essay 
for  the  proper  descriptive  term.  Etymologically  and  deriva- 
tively it  means  ''well-nosed," — and  carries  the  definition 
of  "finding,"  or  "discovering,"  as  of  a  dog  finding  his  prey 
or  a  buried  bone, —  and  neither  of  begetting  or  creating, 
nor  of  composing  by  constructive  thought  or  plan, —  or 
"  poietising."  Tlie  word  poieties,  or  poiematics,  seems  best 
to  express  the  true  idea,  since  the  mind  must  be  the  start- 
ing-point of  the  fixed  laws  of  invention,  and  the  proper 
word  must  cover  or  express  the  mental  composition  or  con- 
struction actually  required  in  the  development  of  an  inven- 
tion, whetlier  of  a  new  macliine,  a  new  product,  or  a  new 
art.  Further,  a  recognized  ivant  is  primarily  a  recognized 
need  growing  out  of  relative  weakness  ;  and  such  a  state 
of  Aveakuess,  or  relative  infancy,  is  therefore  the  primary 
status,  or  base,  of  all  invention,  as  it  is  of  all  mental 
progress. 

Historically,  it  is  the  outsider  wlio  does  the  inventing, 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  207 

not  the  insider.  It  is  not  the  man  of  the  guikl  who  makes 
the  new  machine  that  surpasses  the  old,  but  the  man  whom 
the  guild  will  not  admit  and  woiild  destroy.  The  new  in- 
vention, in  fact,  undermines  the  guild,  by  displacing  its 
machinery  or  method ;  consequently  the  guild  is  always 
conservative,  and  always  the  last  to  accept  improvements 
or  to  appreciate  them.  The  books  are  full  of  cases  in 
point  and  proof. 

Although,  as  Mr.  Kimball  has  shown,  the  tendency  of  the 
improvement  of  the  implements  of  war  is  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  war  itself,  the  lever  and  the  mechanic  arts  do  not 
alone  and  unassisted  destroy  war  and  contention.  As  yet 
they  only  modify  and  change  them  into  business  competi- 
tion and  rivalry.  Between  great  factories  and  little  ones, 
the  struggle  for  life  continues.  Some  are  equipped  with 
old-fashioned  machinery,  and  others  with  machinery  con- 
taining all  the  latest  improvements;  and  the  old  estab- 
lishments find  their  property  depreciated  in  value,  their 
products  more  costly  to  make  than  those  of  their  rivals, 
and  the  inevitable  destiny  of  the  old  machinery  is  the  scrap- 
heap  and  that  of  the  company  the  court  of  bankruptcy,  un- 
less at  a  late  day  it  is  able  to  recover  itself  by  calling  on 
the  inventor  for  still  later  improvements. 

Of  course  there  can  be  no  incentive  to  anyone  to  make 
inventions  and  improvements  unless,  Avhen  made,  they  can 
be  held  in  possession  and  kept  from  rivals  by  means  of 
a  good  title,  or  sold,  subject  to  such  title,  for  a  proper 
consideration.  The  principle  involved  is  not  merely  a  prin- 
ciple of  selfishness,  but  one  of  right  and  justice  —  of  prop- 
erty in  fact  —  which  even  the  dog  with  his  bone  recognizes 
and  protects,  and  without  which  we  should  probably  to-day 
be  still  in  a  savage  stage  of  society.  But  imperialism  — 
which  is  of  the  sword  —  has  impressed  something  of  its 
own  character  upon  the  nomenclature,  the  administration  and 
the  body  of  the  patent  law,  thus  invading  the  field  of  the 
mechanic  arts,  with  the  natural  effect  of  mutilating  and 
deforming   them. 

The  word  monoj>olij,  implied  in  the  patent  right,  is  odious 
because  under  that  title  kings  disposed  of  the  sole  right  to 
sell  the  necessaries  of  life  to  their  favorites,  Avho  thereby 
oppressed  the  people.  "  Letters  Patent "  was  the  name 
given  to  the  documents  that  sanctioned  the  monopoly.  In 
securing  his  patent,  and  in  protecting  it  afterwards,  the  in- 


208  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

ventor  is  involved  in  a  persistent  struggle  to  enable  him 
to  retain  possession  of  rights  that  belong  to  him  ah  initio 
and  dejure.  The  right  conferred  by  letters  patent,  as  it 
now  exists  in  law  and  equity,  is  in  fact  merely  the  right  to 
defend  his  right  after  he  has  armed  the  Government  that 
grants  the  letters  patent  under  its  seal,  and  every  man  as 
■well,  for  attack  upon  him,  by  disclosing  the  nature  of  his 
invention  and  his  methods  of  working  it  —  it  is  the  in- 
ventor, the  creator,  of  civilization,  against  the  world. 

Of  course,  if  the  inventor  chooses  to  use  his  invention 
in  secret,  and  its  secret  use  is  valuable,  he  can  make  his 
own  terms  as  to  sales  of  products  —  provided  his  right  of 
secrecy  is  not  invaded  by  violence.  But  only  a  few  inven- 
tions are  of  value  when  used  in  secret,  and  therefore  in 
general  that  right  is  not  protective  and  has  no  value. 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  securing  and  protecting 
property  rights  in  ideas  —  brain  products;  the  fact  that, 
notwithstanding  these  rights  are  founded  as  deeply  as  any 
others  in  the  Constitution,  the  Government  itself  has  been 
the  great  violator  of  these  rights;  that  only  within  the 
last  ten  years  the  United  States  Courts  have  held  that  prop- 
erty in  inventions  could  not  be  taken  by  the  Government 
without  compensation ;  and  that  not  till  recently  could  the 
Government  be  brought  into  Court  to  answer  for  the  torts 
of  its  own  officers  against  patentees  or  patent  property, 
or  to  answer  for  violation  of  a  contract  express  or  implied, 
—  are  important  and  should,  with  many  other  branches  of 
the  topic,  be  dealt  with  at  lengtli.  The  reasons  why,  and 
the  way  in  which,  the  Patent  Office  is  doing  more  for  our 
civilization  than  all  the  colleges  and  all  the  cluirclies, 
together  with  important  necessary  improvements  in  the 
l)ateut  law  and  its  administration  in  tlie  Patent  Office,  and 
in  tlie  treatmen  of  patents  by  the  Courts,  should  be  con- 
sidered. \\\\i  the  limits  of  this  essay  permit  only  this 
brief  mention  of  these  important  sub-topics.  The  final 
conclusion  of  it  all  is,  —  so  co-ordinated  has  the  advance  of 
society  with  brain  action  become,-^  tliat  the  nations  whi(th 
protect  property  in  ideas  will  survive ;  all  others  will 
evidently  perisli. 

Desiring  to  provide  something  in  the  nature  of  object- 
lessons  for  tlie  instruction  of  the  Association  and.  its 
guests,  I  phuie  before  you  the  four  noble  volumes  of  the 
Patent    Office   Gazette  for  1888.       These  volumes  contain 


Evohition  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  209 

something  like  1500  pages  each,  or  6,000  pages  in  all,  con- 
sisting only  of  what  may  be  called  the  cream  of  invention 
and  Patent-Office  work  for  the  year,  separated  from  the 
skim-milk.  These  6,000  pages  contain  only  the  claims  of 
the  patents,  and  one  figure  from  the  drawings  of  the  patent 
intended  to  aid  the  understanding  of  the  claims  of  the 
inventor.  Including  design  patents,  the  patents  for  that 
year  were  upwards  of  20,000,  involving  an  average  issue  of 
400  patents  or  more  per  week,  not  counting  the  applications 
for  patents  not  issued.  These  volumes  are  made  up  of 
weekly  issues  of  the  Patent  Office  Gazette,  containing  from 
125  to  150  pages,  costing  ten  cents  each,  or  $5.00  per  year. 
It  is,  as  you  will  recognize,  a  marvel  of  cheapness,  perfec- 
tion and  rapidity  of  execution,  that  in  itself  makes  the 
Patent  Office  Gazette  a  worthy  badge  of  the  evolution  of 
the  mechanic  arts,  since  the  whole  of  the  work  is  mechani- 
cal,—  i.  e.,  done  by  machinery.  Contrast  with  these  four 
volumes  the  volume  (a  small  book  of  519  pages)  consisting 
of  the  Patent  Office  reports  for  1851,  and  you  will  begin  to 
obtain  a  glimpse  of  what  has  been  done  in  the  evolution  of 
the  mechanic  arts  during  the  last  forty  years. 

In  the  year  1851,  872  patents  were  granted ;  frequently 
now,  500  patents  are  issued  in  a  single  week,  and  on  an 
average  more  than  800  are  issued  every  two  weeks.  If  I 
could  set  before  you  in  a  row  the  Patent  Office  reports 
and  Gazettes,  you  would  have  the  means,  if  inclined  to  phi- 
losophic speculation,  of  mapping  or  plotting  out  the  various 
social,  political,  business,  military  and  other  cataclysms 
that  have  happened  in  this  country  during  the  past  forty  or 
fifty  years,  together  with  the  intervals  of  peace  and  gen- 
eral uplift  to  the  table-lands  of  national  and  individual 
prosperity.  Prior  to  1855  was  the  day  of  small  things ; 
the  patents  issued  per  year  did  not  average  1,000.  An  in- 
crease in  prosperity  is  indicated  in  the  number  and  size  of 
the  volumes  and  the  number  of  patents  issued  during  1854, 
1855,  1856,  1857,  1858 ;  then  an  ominous  drop,  pitching 
toward  1861.  From  this  there  was  no  recovery  before  1864. 
Beginning,  however,  in  1865  and  1866,  there  was  a  rapid  in- 
crease in  the  number  and  size  of  the  volumes  and  number  of 
patents  issued,  in  accordance  with  the  increase  of  national 
prosperity.  From  1872  to  1879,  inclusive,  the  two  annual  vol- 
umes about  equalled  in  size  and  contents  one  of  these  large 
quarter-yearly  ones.    Then,  following  the  adoption  of  specie 


210  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

payments,  a  sudden  increase  occurred,  maintained  with  fluc- 
tuations of  one  kind  and  another  down  to  the  present  time, 
the  variations  in  the  number  of  patents  issued  being  lat- 
terly made  up  by  the  increased  number  of  claims  in  each 
patent,  showing  improved  work  on  the  part  of  patent  solic- 
itors. The  patents  issued  for  1880  in  round  numbers 
were  14,000;  in  1881,  16,000;  1882,  19,000;  1883,  22,000; 
1884,  20,000;  1885,  24,000;  1886,  22,000;  1887,  21,000; 
1888,  20,000  ;  and  1889,  24,158,  the  highest  annual  number 
yet  reached.  Tlie  number  of  the  last  patent  issued  in  1889 
is  418,664.  The  present  numbering  commenced  in  1829, 
prior  to  which  5,380  patents  had  been  issued,  commenc- 
ing with  only  three  patents  issued  in  1790.  At  the  end  of 
1871  the  number  of  the  last  patent  issued  was  122,303 ; 
the  last  number  in  1881  was  251,684,  the  number  of 
patents  issued  more  than  doubling  in  ten  years.  At  the 
present  rate  of  issue,  the  number  of  patents  at  the  end  of 
1891  will  again  be  more  than  doubled  in  ten  years ;  or  in 
other  words,  more  than  half  of  all  the  patents  granted  by 
the  Government  will  have  been  issued  within  ten  years; 
and  out  of  about  460,000  patents  issued,  something  like 
335,000  will  still  be  alive  or  unexpired. 

Lack  of  space  alone  enables  me  to  resist  the  temptation  to 
follow  up  these  statistics  with  a  statement  of  some  out  of 
the  mass  of  interesting  facts  that  aye  involved  in  tliQse 
few  figures.  As  by  far  the  larger  part  pf  these  inv^n^ions 
are  mechanical,  and  relate  to  mechanical  arts  on  the  dynamic 
side,  and  those  that  relate  to  the  arts  on  the  static  side 
almost  invariably  touch  dynamic  meclianism  somewhere,  it 
becomes  evident  at  a  mere  glance  that  the  prosperity  and 
development  of  our  civilization  are  intimately  connected 
with  the  work  of  the  inventor  and  the  evolution  of  the  me- 
cliauic  arts.  It  is  also  evident  that  if  our  patent  system 
should  be  abrogated, —  the  incentive  to  invention  being 
thereby  removed, —  it  would  be  such  a  disaster  to  civiliza- 
tion that  we  could  better  afford  to  sink  one-half  of  the 
country  to  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

In  comparison  Avith  tlie  great  volumes  exhibited  it 
is  not  much  to  brag  about,  b\it  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  show 
you  a  Patent-Oihce  com])ilation,  giving  the  names  of  women 
inventors  to  whom  j)atents  h;id  been  granted  by  tlie  Govern- 
ment, from  1790  down  to  July,  1888.  To  be  sure,  an  in- 
spection of  this  book  shows  that  their  minds  run  decidedly 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  211 

to  bustles,  liip-pads,  and  things  of  that  order;  but  as 
women  seem  to  be  coming  in  these  latter  days  back  into 
contact  with  actual  sublunary  and  business  affairs,  it  may 
be  expected  that  in  future  their  influence  will  be  felt  to  a 
much  greater  extent  than  ever  before  in  this  field  of  human 
endeavor. 

It  remains  to  consider:  1.  What  are  the  effects  of 
Machinery  and  Inventions  in  agriculture  and  manufactures  ? 
2.  Have  they  benefited  the  laboring  classes?  3.  What 
are  their  effects  on  .the  increase  of  wealth  ?  4.  What  are 
their  effects  on  the  progress  of  civilization  ?  5.  What  are 
their  effects  on  the  development  of  the  human  body  ?  and, 
6.  What  are  their  effects  on  the  development  of  the 
human  mind  ? 

Here  are  six  distinct  topics,  each  worthy  of  treatment  in 
an  entire  essay,  but  which  can  receive  only  the  attention  of 
a  few  words.  In  considering  each  of  them  it  is  necessary 
to  keep  in  mind  the  distinctions  between  the  abstract  and 
the  relative,  between  what  ought  to  be  and  what  can  be, 
between  what  is  right  and  what  the  laws,  the  courts,  the 
customs  and  the  methods  of  society  and  business  sanction. 
Here,  as  elsewhere  and  always,  the  first  thing  to  seek  is : 
The  Kingdom  of  God,  and  His  righteousness ;  whereupon 
you  may  be  sure  that  "  All  these  things  shall  be  added  unto 
jou" — provided  you  understand  the  "Kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness"  to  mean  the  supremacy  of  abstract, 
natural  and  divine  justice  —  not  such  justice  as  man  admin- 
isters, but  such  as  God  administers  and  would  teach  man 
to  administer.  This  by  no  means  begs  the  question,  but 
indicates  that  the  true  answers  to  the  six  questions  depend 
on  how  much  justice  can  be  practically  realized  at  human 
hands. 

The  answer  to  the  first  question  is :  That,  in  agriculture 
particularly,  it  depends  on  how  the  machinery  is  used  — 
whether  it  is  used  in  accordance  with  the  natural  law  of 
its  use  in  the  ultimate,  divine  system  of  things.  If  quicken- 
ing or  facilitating  production  by  the  use  of  machinery  in- 
volves exhaustion  of  the  soil,  then  the  seeming  bemefit  is  a 
disaster,  since  the  farmer  is  inevitably  removing,  parting 
Avith,  or  destroying,  his  capital,  and  will  see  the  time  when 
his  desolated  farm  Avill  drive  him  into  exile  and  beggary, 
in  punishment  for  his  injustice  —  yes,  his  crime  —  committed 
against  his  land,  the  storehouse  of  the  supply  of  life.     An 


212  Evohition  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

additional  crime,  another  injustice,  can  be  committed 
against  land  and  all  that  concerns  agriculture  and  its  true 
prosperity,  —  nay,  is  being  committed  at  this  time,  —  the 
evidences  of  Avhich  are  being  written  all  over  tlie  face  of 
the  lands  of  our  fair  country,  built  into  our  cities  from 
foundation  to  turret-stones,  stamped  indelibly  upon  our 
political,  moral  and  religious  life,  formed  into  the  very 
intellectual  substance  of  our  people,  and  co-ordinated  "with 
our  entire  civilization.  I  refer  to  that  use  of  tlie  machim  ry 
of  transportation  by  land  and  by  sea,  by  railroad  and  by 
steamship,  through  which  the  agricultural  interests  of  Kew 
England,  of  the  East,  and  of  the  occupying  race  of  men 
and  their  civilization,  are  being  destroyed,  and  inferior 
aliens  in  race  and  civilization  are  being  put  in  possession  in 
their  places.  Already  destruction  has  begun  to  reach  as 
far  West  as  Micliigan,  where  land  valu'  s  have  seriously 
declined  ;  and  it  is  destined  to  continue  its  westward  march 
across  the  continent,  unless  we  promptly  learn  the  true 
lesson  of  the  use  of  machinery  in  relation  to  land  and  its 
products.  It  is  this  desolation  of  the  land  and  the  masses 
that  is  enriching  the  few — the  railroad  kings. 

As  to  manufactures,  a  similar  principle  holds  good,  but 
wnth  variations  peculiar  to  that  branch  of  industry.  Thvis, 
machinery  and  invention  may  be  used  in  su(;h  a  Avay  as  to 
consume  and  destroy  wealth  elsewhere  and  otherwise  pro- 
duced;  but  inevitably  the  effect  of  their  proper  use  is  to 
increase  wealth  —  understanding  that  wealth  means  weal; 
that  it  is  not  confined  to  movable  capital ;  and  particularly 
that  it  includes  the  labor  of  the  wealth-})roducer,  who  is  the 
mechanic,  or  has  to  do  with  the  mechanic  arts. 

The  answer  to  the  second  question,  then,  must  be  that 
inventions  have  benefited  the  laboring  classes, —  most  where 
justice  most  prevails,  and  least  Avhere  it  least  prevails. 
Consequently,  we  find  that  in  such  countries  even  as  Eng- 
land, it  is  doubtful  if  they  have  benefited  the  entire  labor- 
ing class  affected  by  the  ])articular  machinery  and  invention 
considered,  though  individiud  benefits  have  been  realized.. 
\n  America,  it  is  certain  that  the  cotton-gin  strengthened 
slavery,  degraded  the  laborer,  utterly  demoralized  the 
owner  of  the  cotton-gin,  mentally,  morally  and  politically, 
led  up  to  rebellion,  and  still  promotes  disorder,  cruelty, 
and,  in  the  last  analysis  of  cause  and  effect,  even  whole- 
sale tyranny  and  murder.     An  essay  might  well  be  written 


Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  213 

for  the  purpose  of  tracing  the  effects  of  the  cotton-gin,  and 
the  absence  of  co-ordinately  developed  mechanical  arts,  in 
the  South,  upon  the  character  and  history  of  the  typical 
Southerner,  and  upon  the  past  and  future  welfare  of  the 
entire  country. 

At  this  writing  I  hear  of  a  single  typical  case  of 
benefit  to  the  laborer,  where  a  man  known  to  me  is 
now  earning  one  hundred  dollars  per  month  as  a  mere 
attendant  upon  the  machinery  employed  in  making  illumi- 
nating gas,  who  forty  years  ago  would  have  done  well  in 
securing  steady  employment  at  87 1-2  cents  per  day.  And 
there  are  many  college  graduates  who  are  not  earning  or 
receiving  so  much.  In  fact,  the  laboring  class  has  obtained 
the  advantage  over  all  other  classes  —  except  the  large  cap- 
italists —  by  beginning  agitation  and  discussion  years  since. 
It  is  time  for  these  other  classes  to  take  up  agitation  and 
discussion,  for  their  salvation  is  now  at  stake.  They  are 
between  the  upper  and  the  nether  mill-stones. 

The  fifth  question  concerns  the  human  body.  Accord- 
ing to  the  teaching  of  Spencer,  Darwin  and  Romanes, 
already  quoted,  the  connection  between  advancing  brain  and 
muscular  co-ordination  having  been  severed  by  machinery, 
and  the  day  of  a  new  kind  of  advance  through  mental  and 
supplemental  material,  or  natural  mechanical  co-ordination, 
having  finally  come, —  chiefly  in  our  own  time, —  but  little 
developmental  change  of  plan  or  structure  of  the  human 
body  is  to  be  expected  or  is  possible,  altliough,  doubtless, 
rounded  perfection  of  development,  harmony  and  beauty 
of  outline,  as  well  as  general  increase  of  strength  and 
endurance,  and  certainty  and  length  of  days,  may  be 
looked  for. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  effects  of  machinery  and 
inventions  upon  the  human  mind,  and  upon  the  progress  of 
civilization  in  the  ages  to  come. 

Can  anyone  who  has  followed  the  history  of  the 
primordial  germ,  in  its  progress  from  a  mere  <' faculty  of 
responding  to  resistance  "  as  its  "  fundamental  sense,"  up 
to  man  with  all  his  mental  capacities,  believe  that  the 
mental  evolution  of  man  is  to  stop  now,  when  he  has  but 
barely  entered  upon  that  advance  which  is  independent  of 
muscular  co-ordination  ?  It  is  this  emancipation  of  his 
adjustive  powers  which  has  brought  him  into  correlation 
with   the  universe,  through    the    additional  senses,  limbs 


214  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

and  mental  powers,  conferred  upon  him  by  mechanisms. 
Can  almost  infinite  development  take  place  in  mechanisms 
and  in  the  mastery  of  man  over  Nature,  and  man  himself  in 
his  mental  constitution,  out  of  which  they  must  grow,  remain 
stationary  or  not  develop  accordingly  ?  Ko.  Nor  can  any 
language  now  at  command  express  that  possible  advance,  for 
language  itself  has  to  keep  step  in  the  grand  march.  Only 
obscure  mathematical  formulas  can  embody  it.  Placing 
Nature,  with  its  limitless  capacities,  on  one  side  of  the 
equation,  we  must  put  man  on  the  other,  with  limitless 
answering  possibilities  of  mental  development ;  —  for  is  it 
not  the  work  of  the  human  mind  to  realize  those  capacities  ? 
The  equation  thus  formed  being  in  the  nature  of  a  vitalized 
equation,  no  development  can  occur  on  one  side  of  the  sign 
of  equality  without  rising  simultaneously  on  the  other. 
The  nature  and  direction  of  mental  advance  would  seem  to 
be  clear  and  necessary. 

In  dealing  with  the  natural  forces  involved  in  the  Evolu- 
tion of  the  Mechanic  Arts,  the  tendency  must  be  to  bring 
the  human  mind  more  and  more  into,  or  towards,  harmony 
with  that  Infinite  and  Eternal  Energy  in  and  through  which 
all  forces  operate,  and  by  means  of  which  all  things  have 
their  being  and  their  mode  of  action.  We  may  therefore 
place  a  simple  but  perfect  trust  in  the  belief  that  in  some 
day  of  a  far  distant  age  Man  shall  indeed  become  fit  to  be 
called  a  Son  of  God. 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES 
SYSTEM. 


BY 

GEOKGE    GUNTON 

Author  of  ""Wealth  axd  Progress,"  "The  Principles  of  Social 

Economics,"  "The  Economic  Heresies  of 

Henrv  George,"  etc. 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology";  Rogers's  "Six  Centuries 
of  "Work  and  Wages " ;  Gunton's  "Wealth  and  Progress";  Gron- 
lund's  "The  Co-operative  Commonwealth"  and  "Caira";  Edward 
Kellogg's  "Labor  and  Capital " ;  Mulhall's  " Progress  of  the  World 
in  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  and  "History  of  Prices";  Levi's 
"Wages  and  Earnings  of  the  Working  Classes" ;  Grant's  "  History 
of  Factory  Legislation";  Brassey's  "Work  and  Wages";  Wade's 
"History  of  the  Middle  and  Working  Classes";  Eden's  "State  of 
the  Poor";  Tooke's  "History of  Prices";  Howell's  "Capital  and 
Labor";  Walker's  "Wages  Question"  ;  Bastiat's  "Economic  Har- 
monies"; Young's  "Labor  in  Europe  and  America";  C.  Osborn 
Ward's  "History  of  the  Ancient  Working  People." 

(216) 


EVOLUTION    OF    THE    WAGES    SYSTEM.* 


This  is  essentially  the  era  for  testing  systems.  The 
time  was,  and  not  long  since,  when  the  laboring  classes, 
and  even  the  more  intelligent  advocates  of  industrial  re- 
form, regarded  the  capitalist  as  responsible  for  all  indus- 
trial disadvantages  to  which  they  were  subjected ;  whether 
it  was  a  reduction  of  wages,  the  refusal  to  grant  an 
increase  of  wages,  or  whatsoever,  the  individual  employer 
or  employers  in  general  were  held  responsible.  We  have 
now  reached  the  stage  however  where  that  mode  of  discus- 
sion is  largely  dispensed  with.  Among  the  more  intelligent 
laborers,  the  subject  is  no  longer  discussed  on  purely  per- 
sonal grounds,  but  is  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
constitutional  tendency  of  existing  economic  and  social 
institutions.  In  a  word,  the  discussion  of  the  industrial 
question  has  been  transferred  from  the  sphere  of  individual 
responsibility  to  that  of  economic  and  social  law. 

This  is  a  great  advance  towards  a  scientific  consideration 
of  the  subject.  It  compels  the  laborer  to  look  beyond  the 
employer  for  the  cause  of  the  industrial  hardships  he 
encounters.  Accordingly,  to-day,  all  shades  of  social  re- 
formers, though  they  differ  upon  everything  else,  practically 
agree  that  tlie  evils  of  society  are  due  to  the  inherent 
nature  of  our  industrial  system  as  a  system.  The  tyran- 
nous exactions  of  the  ''heartless  employer,"  the  fraud  of 
the  "  unscrupulous  trader  "  and  the  vicious  practices  of  the 
speculator  are  all  pointed  to  as  the  necessary  results  of 
the  present  industrial  organization  of  society  —  the  wages 
system.  It  is  held,  and  this  view  seems  to  be  increasing, 
that  the  system  of  wages  is  a  system  of  bondage,  that  the 
existence  of  wage-receivers  implies  the  existence  of  capital- 
istic masters,  that  it  is  a  system  which  enables  the  rich 
to  grow  richer  by  increasing  the  poverty  of  the  poor.  In 
short,  that  it  is  essentially  a  system  of  industrial  servitude 

*  COPYKIGHT,  1890,  by  James  H.  West. 


218  Evolution  of  the   Wages  System. 

and  social  degradation,  differing  from  slavery  only  in  name ; 
that  it  is  necessarily  inimical  to  industrial  development, 
the  growth  of  individual  freedom  and  a  progressive  civiliza- 
tion. Consequently,  the  hand  of  the  social  reformer  with- 
out regard  to  his  constructive  tenets  is  everywhere  raised 
against  the  wages  system.  Whether  he  be  Anarchist, 
Nationalist,  Green-backer,  Land  Nationalizer  or  Socialist, 
the  first  step  in  his  march  towards  the  millennium  is  the 
abolition  of  the  wages  system. 

It  may  be  frankly  admitted  that  the  wages  system  is 
an  essential  part  of  the  capitalistic  system  of  production, 
and  an  indispensable  feature  of  modern  industrial  methods. 
But  is  it  necessarily  an  evil,  economically  or  socially  ?  is 
the  first  question  to  settle.  If  the  wages  system  is  inhe- 
rently inimical  to  progress,  nothing  can  justify  its  perpet- 
uation. The  prime  question  for  the  statesman  and  social 
philosopher  to  consider  is  human  progress.  All  industrial 
conditions,  social  influences  and  institutions  should  be 
promoted  or  restrained  according  as  they  contribute  to  this 
end.  There  is  nothing  too  sacred  to  be  abolished  in  order 
to  promote  social  advancement.  If  socialism  is  necessary 
to  progress  I  am  a  socialist.  I  am  in  favor  of  revolution 
if  revolution  will  do  it.  But  Avill  it  do  it  ?  Is  socialism 
necessary  to  progress  ?  are  questions  that  must  be  satisfac- 
torily answered  before  such  methods  of  reform  can  be 
justified.  Whether  or  not  the  wages  system  is  inimical  to 
progress  and  tends  to  prevent  the  growth  of  individual  and 
social  freedom  can  only  be  determined  by  a  comprehensive 
study  of  the  evolution  of  the  wages  system.  This  involves 
the  consideration  of  (1)  the  meaning  of  wages  and  the  dis- 
tinctive economic  characteristics  of  the  wages  system.  (2) 
The  origin  and  historic  development  of  the  wages  system  and 
the  influences  which  promoted  its  growth.  (3)  The  rela- 
tion of  the  wages  system  to  material  improvement,  individ- 
ual development  and  a  progressive  civilization. 

THE    MEAXIXG    OF    WAGES    AND    THE   DISTINCTIVE   ECONOMIC' 
CHARACTERISTICS    OF     THE    WAGES    SYSTEM. 

Wages  may  be  defined  as  the  price  of  labor  or  service. 
Since  price  always  implies  a  sale,  the  price  of  labor  is 
necessarily  a  stipulated  amount  given  by  another  to  the 
laborer  for  his  service.  Thus  wages  are  not,  as  is  often 
assumed,  what  the  laborer  produces,  nor  the  value  of  that 


Evolution  of  the   Wages  System.  219 

product,  but  that  which  is  actually  and  consciously  given 
in  exchange  for  the  service  per  se.  Therefore,  for  the 
same  reason  that  there  can  be  no  price  without  exchange 
or  sale,  there  can  be  no  wages  unless  labor  as  such  is  bought 
and  sold.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  definition  of  wages 
includes  the  incomes  not  only  of  laborers  who  work  by  the 
day,  by  the  week,  or  by  the  month,  but  the  income  of  all 
without  regard  to  sex  or  social  status  who  sell  their  ser- 
vice as  service.  Wages  include  all  stipulated  incomes, 
whether  great  or  small,  which  are  received  in  direct  pay- 
ment for  personal  service. 

The  distinctive  feature  therefore  of  the  wages  system  is 
that  it  distributes  wealth  in  the  form  of  fixed  or  previously 
stipulated  payments.  It  differs  from  the  individual  self- 
employing  system  in  two  ways.  (1)  Because  the  man  who 
works  for  himself  sells  only  the  product  of  his  labor,  while 
he  who  works  for  wages  sells  only  his  labor  or  service.  (2) 
Because  the  amount  the  self-employed  laborer  receives  is 
determined  by  the  quantity  he  produces,  while  that  of  the 
wage-receiver  depends  entirely  upon  what  another  will 
consent  in  advance  to  give  for  his  labor.  It  may  be  said 
that  the  slave-system  was  a  stipulated-income  system  for 
the  laborer.  Indeed,  one  of  the  most  prominent  objections 
urged  against-  the  wages  system  is  that  it  is  a  species  of 
slavery.  It  is  held  that  the  slave  worked  for  the  master 
and  so  does  the  wage-laborer ;  the  slave  received  what  the 
master  gave  him  and  so  does  the  wage-laborer.  The  slave 
did  not  own  the  product  of  his  labor,  neither  does  the  wage 
laborer. 

Since  the  wages  system  is  the  outgrowth  of  slavery,  it 
naturally  possesses  some  of  the  same  characteristics ;  but 
it  has  also  some  radically  different  features,  and  it  is  these 
different  features  that  distinguish  it  from  slavery.  It  is 
true  that  under  both  systems  the  laborer  receives  his 
income  from  the  employer ;  that  under  both  systems  the 
product  belongs  to  the  employer  and  not  to  the  laborer. 
But  here  the  similarity  ceases  and  a  new  element  enters 
the  industrial  relations.  Under  the  slave  system  the 
laborer  was  a  commodity,  while  under  the  wages  system  it  is 
only  his  service  that  is  bought  and  sold.  Thus,  under  the 
wages  system,  instead  of  buying  and  selling  laborers  as 
under  slavery,  the  employer  buys  service  and  sells  prod- 
ucts.    By  this   change  the  price  was  transferred  from  the 


220  Evolution  of  the   Wages  System. 

person  of  the  laborer  to  his  labor ;  thenceforth  he  ceased 
to  be  a  commodity  and  became  a  distinct  social  as  well  as 
an  economic  factor,  which  constitutes  a  radical  difference 
between  the  two  industrial  systems. 

It  is  further  urged  that  vmder  the  slave  system  the 
master  was  compelled  to  give  the  laborer  as  much  of  the 
product  as  would  furnish  him  a  living,  and  under  the  wages 
system  he  does  no  more.  This  is  true,  with  the  radical 
difference  however  that,  under  slavery,  what  should  consti- 
tute the  laborer's  standard  of  living  was  determined  by  the 
arbitrary  authority  of  the  master,  while  under  the  wages 
system  his  standard  of  living  is  determined  by  his  social 
habits  and  new  desires,  which  may  be  and  are  constantly 
increased  according  to  the  extent  and  complexity  of  his 
social  relations.  Thus  while  under  both  systems  the  labor- 
er's income  is  determined  by  his  standard  of  living,  in  the 
transition  from  slavery  to  wages  the  standard  of  living  was 
transferred  from  the  sphere  of  rigid  despotic  authority  to 
that  of  social  law,  where  it  becomes  susceptible  of  indefinite 
expansion. 

THE    ORIGIN    AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE    WAGES    SYSTEM. 

If  we  examine  the  state  of  society  in  France  at  the 
close  of  the  ninth  century,  we  find  little  but  industrial 
and  social  confusion.  After  the  death  of  Charlemagne, 
society  was  practically  resolved  into  its  original  elements ; 
political  government  and  everything  like  social  and  indus- 
trial order  practically  disappeared.  In  the  reorganization 
of  society  under  feudalism,  the  center  of  all  allegiance, 
authority  and  ambition  was  transferred  from  the  emperor 
and  petty  king  to  the  person  of  the  feudal  baron.*  With 
the  establishment  of  the  feudal  system  and  its  more  perma- 
nent social  life,  a  greater  desire  for  the  display  of  wealth 
and  social  power  rapidly  developed  among  the  barons  and 
their  more  wealthy  vassals.  The  ambition  of  every  lord  to 
outdo  his  neighbors  in  pageantry  and  make  the  baronial  hall 
rival  the  king's  castle,  which  was  so  common  in  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  centviries,  naturally  stimulated  the  growth  of 
new  wants,  tastes  and  social  habits,  the  satisfaction  of  which 
necessitated  the  production  of  more  wealth.  As  these  in- 
fluences extended,  })opulation  increased,  and  towns  began  to 


*  Ffallain's  History  of  t)it'  Middle  Ages,  Vol.  I.,  cli.  ii.    Also  Guizot's  History 
of  Civilization. 


Evolution  of  the   Wages  System.  221 

develop  which  naturally  became  the  centers  of  industry 
and  trade.  With  the  growth  of  the  towns,  which  became 
quite  pronounced  by  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century, 
the  social  influences  which  had  previously  been  confined  to 
the  lords  and  their  vassals  began  to  operate  among  the 
laboring  classes. 

Through  this  concentration  of  population  and  industry 
in  the  towns,  several  socializing  influences  began  to 
operate.  In  the  first  place,  in  their  daily  occupations, 
domestic  life  and  religious  services,  the  laborers  were  con- 
stantly forced  into  more  frequent  and  varied  social  rela- 
tions, and  these  naturally  tended  to  create  among  them  the 
growth  of  new  tastes  and  social  habits.  Under  these 
conditions  the  laborers  not  only  became  familiar  with  and 
interested  in  each  other,  but  they  also  acquired  a  more  in- 
timate acquaintance  with  and  stronger  desire  for  the  use  of 
wealth.  Although  the  towns,  including  the  laborers,  were 
still  the  property  of  the  barons,  the  new  desires  and  wants 
thus  developed  gradually  took  root,  and  bore  fruit  in  the 
character  of  the  people,  which  finally  became  too  strong 
for  either  baron  or  king  to  resist.  Indeed  it  was  by  the 
character  thus  produced  that  the  free  cities  were  developed, 
where  the  seed  of  industrial  and  political  freedom  was 
planted  which  ultimately  overthrew  the  feudal  system  and 
laid  the  foundation  for  modern  civilization. 

If  time  would  permit,  it  would  be  interesting  to  follow 
the  struggles  of  the  laboring  classes  from  the  ninth  to  the 
fifteenth  century,  during  which  time  they  evolved  from 
serfs,  the  literal  property  of  the  baron,  to  wage  receivers 
with  distinct  industrial  and  social  rights.*  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  despite  all  the  efforts  of  the  barons  and  kings  to 
oppress,  plunder  and  enslave  the  laborers,  before  the  middle 
of  the  eleventh  century  they  began  to  obtain  charters 
which  not  only  gave  them  commercial  privileges,  but  also 
secured  to  them  the  right  of  electing  their  own  magistrates, 
judges,  sheriffs,  etc.,  and  levying  their  own  taxes.  By 
these  charters,  which  became  very  numerous  by  the  twelfth 
century,  the  towns  or  free  cities  were  practically  trans- 
formed into  little  Republics.  As  early  as  1020,  the  city 
of  Leon  received  its  municipal  charter  from  Alfonzo  V.  of 
Spain.  The  charter  of  the  city  of  London  was  granted  by 
Henry  I.  in  1101,  and  those  of  Noyon,  St.  Quentin,  Loan, 

*  Principles  of  Social  Economics,  Part  I.,  ch.  v. 


222  Evolution  of  the   Wages  System. 

and  Amiens  by  Louis  VT.  of  France  about  1110,  Hallam 
tells  us  that  <<  before  the  death  of  Henry  V.  (1125),  almost 
all  the  cities  of  Lombardy  and  many  of  those  of  Tuscany 
were  accustomed  to  elect  their  own  magistrates  and  to 
act  as  independent  communities  in  waging  war  and  in 
domestic  government."  And  in  England,  according  to  the 
same  author,  "From  the  time  of  William  Ilufus  (1087  to 
1100)  there  was  no  reign  in  which  charters  were  not 
granted  to  different  towns  for  exemption  from  tolls  on  rivers 
and  at  markets,  those  lighter  manacles  of  feudal  tyranny, 
or  commercial  franchises,  or  of  immunity  from  the  ordi- 
nary jurisdiction,  or  lastly  of  internal  self-government."* 

The  increasing  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  towns  was 
a  constant  source  of  envy  to  the  barons,  who,  we  are  told, 
"plundered  them  on  every  occasion  without  mercy  or  re- 
morse." Therefore,  in  order  to  maintain  their  existence 
and  the  freedom  and  wealth  they  had  acquired,  the  towns 
Avere  forced  to  assume  open  hostility  to  the  barons.  As  a 
means  of  swelling  their  numbers  and  sustaining  themselves 
in  this  struggle,  the  burgesses  made  the  towns  a  place  of 
refuge  and  safety  for  all  who  should  come  to  reside  within 
their  walls.  And  as  an  additional  inducement  they  con- 
ferred the  right  of  citizenship  upon  all  who  remained  there 
one  year,  even  though  they  were  runaway  serfs  from  the 
neighboring  baron's  estate.  Thus  the  towns  not  only  pro- 
tected the  property  and  promoted  the  progress  of  the  bur- 
gesses, but  they  offered  protection  and  freedom  to  all  who 
w^ho  would  flee  thither  from  the  clutches  of  their  feudal 
masters.  By  such  means  they  naturally  attracted  to  them 
the  most  energetic  and  characterful  portion  of  the  people. 
With  this  opportunity  for  improvement  and  freedom  con- 
stantly held  out  to  even  serfs  of  husbandry,  the  barons  were 
gradually  compelled  to  provide  better  conditions,  grant 
more  privileges,  and  some  freedom,  in  order  to  prevent  tluMii 
from  fleeing  to  the  towns.  And  by  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  we  are  told,  the  villeins  of  England  had 
largely  become  hired  laborers.  In  other  words,  the  laborers 
had  developed  from  serfs  (slaves)  into  wage  receivers. 

Since  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  struggle 
of  the  laboring  classes  has  been  distinctly  one  for  wages, 
as  shown  by  the  continuous  legislation  upon  the  subject 


•  Hallaui's  History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  IGC-ICO  and  !'.«;  also  Vol. 
II.,  p.  78. 


Evolution  of  the   Wages  System.  223 

since  the  famous  statute  of  laborers  in  1350.  The  first 
hundred  years  of  the  distinctively  wage  period  was  one  of 
marked  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  laborers. 
Wages,  which  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  were 
but  three  pence  or  less  a  day,  were  doubled  by  the  middle  of 
the  following  century.  Although,  through  causes  which  I 
cannot  now  stop  to  explain,  this  rise  of  wages  was  arrested* 
for  several  centuries,  they  were  never  forced  back  to  the 
previous  state.  With  the  rise  of  the  factory  system,  how- 
ever, the  same  influences  which  produced  the  progress  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  again  began  to  operate,  and  the 
wages  system  received  a  new  impetus.  And  with  all  the 
disadvantages,  and  they  are  many,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  industrial  and  social  progress  of  the  laboring 
classes,  and  indeed  everything  that  makes  for  civilization, 
has  been  greater  than  ever  before. 

With  this  evolution  of  industrial  and  municipal  power 
came  also  political  representation.  As  early  as  1188,  we 
find,  the  cities  of  Spain  acquired  the  right  of  representa- 
tion in  the  Cortes.  In  England,  the  burgesses  received  a 
general  confirmation  of  their  charters,  which,  with  many 
new  privileges,  were  declared  inviolable  by  Magna  Charta 
in  1214.  This  was  publicly  confirmed  thirty-two  times  be- 
fore the  middle  of  the  next  century,  and  in  1265  the  bvir- 
gesses  obtained  representation  in  parliament.  With  the 
growth  of  industrial  freedom  and  general  advancement 
toward  wage  conditions  their  power  over  the  monarchy 
gradually  increased,  till,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III., 
parliament  demanded  the  right  to  appoint  the  king's  coun- 
sellors, and  finally  to  make  and  unmake  kings.  There  is 
another  fact  worthy  of  note  in  this  connection;  namely, 
that  in  the  same  way  that,  with  the  development  of  the 
laborers  from  villeinage  to  wage  receivers,  and  with  the 
rise  of  wages  and  improved  social  conditions,  their  political 
power  increased,  so  with  the  arrest  of  the  rise  of  wages 
and  social  improvement,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  their  political  power  decayed.  And  it  was  not 
until  the  subsequent  rise  of  wages  under  the  factory  sys- 
tem that  any  real  revival  of  the  political  power  of  the 
masses  took  place. 

It  will  thus  be  observed  that,  historically,  the  evolution 
of  the  wages  system  is  an  integral  part  of  the  evolution  of 

*  Wealth  and  rrogress,  Part  II.,  ch.  v. 


224  Evolution  of  the   Wages  System. 

social  freedom ;  that  it  originated  in  tlie  social  and  indus- 
trial centers  which  developed  character ;  that  it  was  born 
of  the  very  struggles  for  individual  rights,  and  that  the 
history  of  the  wages  system  is  the  history  of  all  the 
industrial,  social,  political  and  religious  freedom  modern 
civilization  affords. 

THK    kp:lation    of   thk   wages   system    to    material 

IMPKOVEMENT,    SOCIAL   FREEDOM,  AND    A 
PROGRESSIVE  CIVILIZATION. 

Although  it  is  generally  admitted  that  the  wages  system 
is  superior  to  the  slave  system  which  preceded  it,  those 
who  regard  its  abolition  as  necessary  to  progress  insist  that, 
instead  of  being  fundamentally  different  from  slavery,  it 
is  but  a  modified  form  of  it,  and  therefore  the  final  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  and  the  establishment  of  industrial  and 
social  freedom  involves  the  abolition  of  the  wages  system. 
Those  who  take  this  view,  and  they  are  very  numerous,  lay 
great  stress  upon  the  fact  that,  under  tlie  present  system, 
the  laborer  is  an  employee.  To  them  the  very  stipulation 
of  income  means  limitation  of  freedom.  Of  all  the  ob- 
jections urged  against  the  wages  system  this  is  probably 
the  most  universal,  and  is  regarded  as  the  most  funda- 
mental. They  think  the  only  conditions  under  which 
social  freedom  is  possible  is  where  the  laborers  employ 
themselves.  This  idea  underlies  all  the  impractical  schemes 
ever  attempted  for  introducing  the  social  millennium.  The 
scheme  of  early  communism,  the  socialism  (New  Christian- 
ity) of  Saint-Simon,  Fourier  and  Owen,  the  Christian 
socialism  of  Maurice  and  Kiugsley,  the  scientific  socialism 
of  Rodbertus  and  Karl  Marx,  the  land  nationalization  of 
Henry  George,  and  the  military  socialism  of  Bellamy,  are 
all  practically  based  upon  this  assumption. 

The  fallacy  in  this  position  arises  from  a  misconception 
of  the  idea  of  freedom.  Freedom  is  not  a  mere  theoretic 
form,  but  a  sturdy  fact.  It  does  not  consist  in  the  formal 
l)erinission,  but  in  the  actual  power,  to  go  or  to  do. 
Nothing  can  give  social  and  political  ffeedom  but  wealth  ; 
the  freedom  that  wealth  affords  does  not  depend  upon 
whether  the  laborer  works  for  himself  or  for  another,  but 
it  depends  entirely  ujwn  how  much  wealth  he  receives. 
There  is  no  power  in  Nature,  Society,  or  Government  that 
can  make  a  poor  man  free.    Poverty  is  the  essence  of  weak- 


Evolution  of  the    Wages  System.  225 

ness,  it  is  the  source  of  slavery,  and  the  background  of  all 
despotism.  I  repeat,  it  is  not  the  fact  that  the  laborer's  in- 
come is  stipulated  that  limits  his  freedom,  but  the  fact 
that  it  is  small.  The  difference  between  the  Pennsylvania 
miner  and  the  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  is 
not  in  the  form,  but  in  the  size  of  their  incomes.  A  stipu- 
lated dollar  gives  more  freedom  than  a  stipulated  cent.  Let 
it  never  be  forgotten,  then,  that  it  is  the  quantity  and  not 
the  form  of  wealth  that  gives  freedom. 

Can  the  amount  of  wealth  the  laborer  receives  be  in- 
creased under  the  stipulated-income  wages  system  ?  I 
answer  yes,  emphatically  yes  !  The  evidence  of  history  is 
conclusive  upon  this  point.  When  the  statute  of  laborers 
was  enacted  (1350),  wages  in  England  were  three  pence 
(six  cents)  a  day,  or  about  the  same  as  they  were  and  still 
are  in  Asia.  Since  that  time  they  have  risen  many  hundred 
per  cent.,  and  all  under  the  wages  system.  And  what  is 
more,  the  rise  in  wages  has  increased  as  the  wages  system 
has  become  more  general  and  permanent.  Indeed,  all  the 
advantages  of  modern  civilization,  the  discovery  of  the  art 
of  printing,  the  use  of  steam  and  electricity,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  factory  system,  the  right  of  religious  freedom, 
representative  government,  the  development  of  the  arts 
and  sciences  which  enable  the  common  laborer  to  obtain 
comforts,  luxuries  and  freedom  formerly  unknown  even  to 
the  wealthy,  have  come  under  the  wages  system. 

Nor  is  this  progress  in  spite  of  the  wages  system,  as 
some  would  have  us  believe.  On  the  contrary  it  is  largely 
due  to  it.  The  growth  of  material  prosperity  and  intel- 
ligence among  the  masses  was  an  indispensable  condition  to 
this  development.  The  art  of  printing  has  finally  given  us 
our  cheap  books  and  the  daily  press,  which  would  have  been 
impossible  without  the  growth  of  intelligence  among  the 
common  people  which  enabled  them  to  both  purchase  and  to 
appreciate  literature.  Nor  would  the  mechanical  inventions 
of  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  and  the  de- 
velopment of  the  modern  factory  and  railroad  have  been 
possible  but  for  the  increasing  consumption  of  the  products 
by  the  masses. 

The  wages  system  promoted  this  progress  in  many  ways. 
In  the  first  place,  the  stipulation  of  incomes  tends  to 
increase  their  permanence,  and  the  certainty  of  getting  a 
living.     In  proportion  as  the  income  of  any  class  becomes 


226  Mi'olution  of  tlie    Wages  System. 

stipulated  it  becomes  less  contingent  and  accidental.  To 
the  extent  th^t  this  ocfcurs,  material  substance  becomes 
more  certain  and  less  precarious,  which  is  the  first  step 
towards  social  and  intellectual  development.  So  long  as 
the  laborer's  living  is  uncertain,  he  is  in  a  more  or  less  con- 
stant state  of  anxiety  and  suspense  which  tends  to  make 
progress  in  the  higher  phases  of  social  life  impossible. 
Certainty  of  a  living  is  the  first  condition  to  social  ad- 
vancement. 

Another  feature  of  the  wages  system  is  that  it  concen- 
trates laborers  and  specializes  their  occupations.  This  is 
regarded  as  gne  of  the  worst  features  of  the  wages  system, 
whereas  it  is  in  truth  one  of  the  best.  By  concentrating 
the  laborers,  it  forces  them  into  closer  and  more  frequent 
intercourse  with  each  other,  which  is  indispensable  to  any 
appreciable  degree  of  social  development.  Nothing  can 
develop  man's  intelligence,  character  and  freedom  but  con- 
tact with  his  fellow-man.  It  was  because  the  free  cities 
supplied  this  element  that  they  were  the  nurseries  of 
progress.  It  is  true  that  in  subdividing  and  specializing 
industry,  the  laborers  become  more  and  more  a  fractional 
part  of  the  productive  process.  But  instead  of  this  being 
a  disadvantage  it  is  a  positive  advantage.  With  the 
specialization  of  labor,  laborers  become  more  and  more 
interdependent  upon  each  other,  as  for  instance,  in  the 
ordinary  factory  to-day  one  laborer  cannot  work  unless 
they  all  work.  The  effect  of  this  is  to  make  the  laborers 
all  have  a  common  interest.  The  prosperity  of  one  is  the 
prosperity  of  all. 

Whatever  welds  people  into  a  class,  socializes  them; 
and  whatever  socializes  man  expands  and  develops  him.  In 
proportion  as  men  become  interdependent  with  their  fellow- 
men  they  become  interested  in  them.  In  proportion  as  this 
process  of  social  differentiation  increases,  our  interests 
and  sympathies  broaden,  our  altruism  is  developed  and  the 
welfare  of  our  neighbor  becomes  identical  with  our  own. 
So  long  as  man  can  succeed  without  the  aid  of  his  fellow- 
men  he  will  remain  indifferent  to  his  neighbor's  welfare. 
The  only  way  to  insure  that  man  Avill  help  his  neighbor  is  to 
make  his  neighbor's  well-being  necessary  to  his  own.  Tliis 
is  precisely  what  the  wages  system  does.  It  takes  tlie 
laborer  from  his  isolated  hand-loom  or  cobbler's  bench,  or 


Evolution  of  the   Wages  System.  227 

his  little  patch  of  land,  and  puts  him  into  the  factory. 
When  it  does  this,  it  relegates  him  into  a  large  specialized 
class,  in  doing  which  it  makes  him  an  inseparable  part 
of  a  larger  human  aggregate.  His  interests  are  no  longer 
isolated;  his  success  is  bound  up  with  that  of  his  fellows, 
and  all  the  socializing  influences  of  close  intercourse  and 
common  interest  at  once  set  in.  He  then  sees  that  he  can- 
not fly  away  and  leave  his  class,  and  therefore  directs  his 
efforts  towards  lifting  that  class.  This  is  a  fact  which 
many  of  our  leading  writers  and  statesmen  have  not  yet 
fully  recognized. 

It  is  a  common  thing  to  see  the  editors  of  the  daily  press 
advising  the  workingmen  to  save  their  pennies  and  become 
capitalists, —  to  leave  their  class  and  become  employers. 
Such  advice  is  very  much  like  telling  every  boy  that  he 
can  be  president  of  the  United  States, —  a  thing  that  never 
was  possible,  and  is  becoming  more  and  more  impossible  as 
the  population  increases.  So  the  advice  to  the  laborer  to 
leave  his  class  becomes  more  impracticable  as  civilization 
advances. 

The  tendency  of  industrial  progress  is  constantly  to- 
wards a  relatively  smaller  number  of  employers,  and  more 
and  more  towards  a  stipulated  income  in  the  form  of  sala- 
ries and  wages.  The  laborer  feels  this  if  he  does  not  see  it, 
and  instead  of  trying  to  take  wings  and  fly  from  his  class, 
he  endeavors  to  organize  it.  He  sees  that  with  the  divis- 
ion and  concentration  of  labor  and  stipulated  incomes,  the 
amount  of  wages,  the  number  of  hours'  labor  a  day,  the 
sanitary  and  other  conditions  under  which  he  works,  are  not 
fixed  separately  for  each  laborer,  but  that  they  are  regulated 
on  a  large  scale  for  all.  Consequently,  in  order  to  improve 
his  own  condition,  whether  by  raising  his  wages,  reducing 
his  hours  of  labor,  increasing  the  educational  advantages 
for  his  children,  or  whatsoever,  he  is  forced  to  demand  the 
benefit  for  his  class,  as  the  only  way  of  getting  it  for  him- 
self. This  fact  has  brought  the  labor  organizations  into 
existence,  which  have  done  so  much  to  raise  the  wages  and 
improve  the  social  and  political  status  of  the  laboring 
classes  during  the  present  century. 

There  is  nothing  so  saving  to  the  human  race,  nothing 
that  so  surely  promotes  the  advancement  of  civilization, 
as  that  which  makes  it  necessary  for  millions  to  rise  to- 


228  Evolution  of  the    Wages  System. 

gether.  No  reform  is  worth  fighting  for,  no  statesmanship 
is  worth  considering,  that  does  not  tend  to  improve  the  con- 
ditions of  the  millions.  I  have  no  interest  in  any  indus- 
trial or  social  scheme,  in  any  civilization,  or  in  any  religion, 
that  will  save  only  a  few.  I  believe  in  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  but  I  also  believe  in  making  all  fit  to  survive.  There- 
fore to  say  that  the  wages  system  is  opposed  to  freedom 
because  it  tends  to  create  a  laboring  class,  is  to  entirely  mis- 
understand the  trend  of  social  progress.  Indeed,  that  is 
one  of  its  most  redeeming  features,  without  which  improve- 
ment among  the  masses  would  be  hopeless.  Wages  cannot 
rise,  nor  can  political  freedom  or  social  character  be  de- 
veloped by  anything  which  does  not  increase  the  economic 
interdependence  of  the  people,  and  weld  them  together  in 
social  classes.  Whatever  makes  men  more  interdepend- 
ent makes  them  more  human,  more  altruistic;  and  more  free. 
The  savage  has  the  minimum  of  interdependence  ;  his  exist- 
ence mainly  depends  upon  his  muscle  and  upon  accidents  of 
his  situation,  and  he  is  in  almost  perpetual  terror.  He  has 
no  freedom  ;  he  can  travel  but  a  very  limited  distance,  and 
is  in  constant  fear  of  enemies  in  the  form  of  wild  beasts 
or  wild  men  or  wild  elements.  In  the  civilized  countries 
where  the  wages  system  is  most  advanced  and  the  greatest 
industrial  interdependence  prevails,  man  can  travel  around 
the  world  in  perfect  safety,  because  under  those  conditions 
everybody  has  an  interest  in  protecting  the  freedom  of  his 
neighbors.  That  is  why  in  the  long  run  democracy  is  safer 
than  despotism,  because  it  includes  more  interests,  more 
activities,  more  responsibilities  and  more  reciprocal  rela- 
tions. 

Another  feature  of  the  wages  system  is  the  tendency  to 
promote  more  constant  employment.  Wages  are  an  indis- 
pensable phase  of  the  capitalistic  system  of  production. 
There  is  no  fact  more  conclusively  established  in  the  history 
of  industrial  progress  than  that  with  the  development  of 
the  wages  system,  the  division  and  specialization  of  labor 
and  the  interdependence  of  the  laborers,  has  come  the  con- 
centration of  capital  in  large  enterprises.  Nor  is  there  any 
fact  more  conclusive  than  that  the  concentration  of  capital 
in  fixed  plants  and  large  enterprises  makes  a  marked  in- 
crease in  the  permanence  of  employment.  That  periods  of 
industrial  depression  and  enforced  idleness  have  accompa- 


Evolution  of  the   Wages  System.  229 

nied  the  development  of  the  factory-system  is  a  fact  too 
obvious  to  be  questioned.  These,  however,  as  I  have  else- 
where shown,*  are  not  inherent  in  the  wages  system,  but 
are  evils  which  sound  economics  and  wise  statesmanship 
may  and  should  eliminate.  But  even  with  the  blundering 
economics  and  blind  statesmanship  hitherto  so  prevalent, 
the  permanence  of  employment  has  steadily  increased  with 
the  development  of  the  wages  system  and  factory  methods. 
For  the  proof  of  this  you  only  need  compare  the  statistics 
of  able-bodied  pauperism  (enforced  idleness)  of  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries,  with  that  of 
the  last  thirty  years. 

How  to  deal  with  the  unemployed  was  the  chief  indus- 
trial problem  that  perplexed  the  English  statesmen  from 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  to  the  first  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  statute  books  of  that  period 
bristle  with  enactments  inflicting  pains  and  penalties  varying 
from  the  stocks  to  the  scaffold,  thousands  being  imprisoned, 
branded  with  red-hot  irons,  and  not  a  few  put  to  death,  as 
the  penalty  for  being  "sturdy  beggars,"  which  condition 
enforced  idleness  made  necessary,  f  Indeed,  the  history  of 
the  English  Poor-Laws  and  the  Act  of  Settlement  under 
the  Tudors  and  Stuarts  is  the  history  of  futile  attempts  to 
deal  with  involuntary  idleness. 

With  the  development  of  the  factory  system  and  the 
concentration  of  capital,  however,  this  evil  has  been  stead- 
ily diminished  ;  not  from  any  generosity  on  the  part  of  the 
capitalist  towards  the  laborer,  but  because  permanence  of 
employment  became  indispensable  to  the  success  of  large 
undertakings.  As  industrial  establishments  increased  in 
size,  involving  millions  of  dollars,  slight  errors  of  manage- 
ment result  in  more  serious  losses.     Indeed,  it  is  a  law  of 


*  Prill,  of  Social  Economics,  Part  IV.,  ch.  iv  (Industrial  Depressions). 

t  In  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  (1547)  it  was  enacted  (chapter 
iii)  that  "  if  any  person  refuse  to  labor,  and  live  idly  three  days,  he  shall  be 
branded  with  ared-hot  iron  on  the  breast  with  letter  V,  and  be  adjudged  slave 
for  two  years  of  the  person  who  informed  against  him.  It  is  further  provided 
that  the  master  may  cause  his  slave  to  work  by  beating  or  chaining  him ;  if 
the  slave  absconds  for  fourteen  days  he  is  condemned  to  slavety  for  life,  and 
if  he  runs  away  a  second  time,  he  can  be  put  to  death."  It  is  said  that  "  every 
part  of  the  kingdom  was  infested  with  robbers  and  idle  vagabonds  who,  refus- 
ing to  labor,  lived  by  plundering  the  peaceful  inhabitants."  In  Elizabeth's 
reign,  "  rogues  were  trussed  up  apace,  and  there  was  not  <me  year  coTumonly 
wherein  300  or  400  of  them  were  not  devoured  and  eaten  up  by' the  gallows  in 
one  place  and  other."  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  72,000  are  said  to  have 
been  put  to  death  for  these  offenses.  (Wade's  History  of  England,  pp.  16  and 
17.    See  also  Rogers'  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages,  p.  419.) 


230  Evolution  of  the    Wages  Si/stem. 

the  concentration  of  capital  that  the  larger  the  concern,  the 
smaller  is  the  margin  of  profit,  the  greater  is  the  risk  of 
loss  J  and  expertness  of  management  is  more  necessary  to 
success.  Indeed,  with  the  small  margin  of  profits  and 
close  competition  between  large  concerns  to-day,  slight 
mistakes  may  involve  the  loss  of  thousands  of  dollars.  So 
true  is  this  that  in  all  well-established  industries  the  con- 
stant employment  of  capital  is  now  practically  indispensable 
to  success.  For  example,  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton 
cloth  to-day  an  eighth  of  a  cent  a  yard  will  make  the  dif- 
ference between  success  and  failure.  The  loss  involved  in 
the  short  stoppage  of  a  large  factory  will  soon  be  more 
than  equal  to  the  profit  of  a  year's  business.  Whatever 
increases  permanence  in  the  use  of  capital  necessarily  in- 
creases the  constancy  of  employment.  Thus,  as  the  wages 
system  and  factory  methods  develop,  the  capitalist  has  to 
pay  the  penalty  through  loss  or  bankruptcy  for  enforced 
idleness ;  and  hence  permanent  employment  becomes  one  of 
the  features  of  the  industrial  expertness  of  capitalistic 
management.  Under  the  individual  or  self-employing 
regime  this  was  not  the  case.  When  the  hand-weaver  failed 
to  sell  his  cloth  or  make  a  living  he  could  starve,  beg,  go 
to  jail  or  die,  as  the  case  might  be.  His  poverty  involved 
nobody  else,  while  under  the  wages  system  the  great  ca})- 
italist,  nay,  the  whole  community,  is  involved  with  the  en- 
forced idleness  of  the  laborer.  This  is  inevitable,  because 
of  the  dependence  of  the  employing  class  upon  the  con- 
sumption of  the  laborers,  which  the  colossalizing  of  pro- 
ductive methods  has  made  necessary.  Thus,  the  inherent 
tendency  of  the  wages  system  is  to  increase  the  permanence 
of  employment  and  diminish  enforced  idleness. 

Accordingly,  the  world  over,  we  find  that  permanence  of 
employment  increases  and  enforced  idleness  diminishes 
where  the  wages  system  is  most  developed  and  capital  most 
concentrated.  If  you  have  any  doubts  upon  this  point, 
watch  the  currents  of  emigration.  People  always  leave 
those  localjjiies  and  countries  where  employment  is  the  most 
precarious  and  least  remunerative,  and  move  towards  those 
where  it  is  most  permanent  and  best  rewarded.  Hence  we 
see  that  emigration  everywhere  tends  from  those  countries 
where  the  wages  system  and  factory  methods  are  least 
developed,  to  those  where  they  are  most  highly  developed. 


Evolution  of  the   Wages  System.  231 

It  is  from  Bohemia,  Austria,  Italy,  Germany,  Ireland,  etc., 
towards  England  and  America  that  the  laborers  emigrate, 
and  never  from  England  or  America  to  Continental  Europe 
and  Asia. 

The  wages  or  stipulated-income  system  may  be  properly 
regarded  as  an  integral  part  of  moaern  civilization,  which 
it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  abolish  without  returning  to 
barbarism.  If  the  most  Utopian  socialistic  scheme  were 
adopted  to-morrow  it  could  not  dispense  with  the  payment 
of  wages  without  abolishing  factory  methods  of  production 
and  returning  to  the  self-employing  hand-labor  conditions 
of  primitive  society.  If  we  are  to  have  railroads  and  fac- 
tories at  all,  it  would  be  just  as  necessary  to  pay  salaries 
and  wages  if  they  were  owned  by  the  government  as  when 
they  are  owned  by  private  individuals.  Whether  we  have 
socialism  or  private  ownership,  unless  we  are  to  abandon 
the  economic  use  of  iron,  steam,  electricity,  and  the  achieve- 
ments of  modern  science,  we  must  have  a  wages  system. 

This  does  not  imply  that  the  poverty,  ignorance  and 
social  degradation  of  the  present  industrial  life  is  to  con- 
tinue. What  it  means  is  that  the  social  progress  of  the 
future  must  be  sought  along  the  same  general  lines  that  it 
has  traveled  in  the  past ;  namely,  towards  greater  special- 
ization of  labor,  stipulation  of  income,  and  interdependence 
of  social  classes.  The  wages  system  does  not,  as  is  com- 
monly assumed,  imply  an  iron  law ;  on  the  contrary  it  is  as 
elastic  as  human  wants  and  desires,  and  is  capable  of  as 
much  expansion  as  the  social  character  of  man.  There  is 
nothing  in  this  system  to  prevent  wages  from  indefinitely 
increasing.  It  is  just  as  possible  for  the  laborer's  income 
to  rise  from  the  present  rate  to  $5000  a  year  under  the 
wages  system,  as  it  was  for  it  to  increase  from  $20  a  year 
in  the  fourteenth  century  to  $900  or  $1000  a  year  to-day.* 
In  fact,  if  the  same  relative  increase  in  wages,  and  the 
social  fi-eedom  it  implies,  takes  place  during  the  next  hun- 
dred years  that  has  occurred  during  the  present  century,  the 
laboring  classes  will  be  better  off  —  richer  and  freer  —  by 
the  year  2000,  under  the  wages  system,  than  even  Bellamy's 


*  The  wages  of  compositors,  carpenters,  masons,  bricklayers,  engineers,  and 
some  other  classes  of  mechanics,  have  already  reached  SIOOO  a  year  in  this  coun- 
try, which,  allowing  for  the  difference  in  the  value  of  gold,  is  manv  hundred 
per  cent,  higher  than  the  wages  of  the  artificers  as  fixed  by  the  Statute  of 
Laborers  in  lajO. 


232  Evolution  of  the   Wages  System. 

Utopian  dream  anticipates.  In  other  words,  with  the  wise 
application  of  economic  law,  the  Nationalists'  millennium 
will  actually  be  reached  quicker  through  the  law  of  evolu- 
tion under  the  wages  system  than  by  Bellamy's  ethereal 
scheme,  even  if  that  w^e  as  scientihcally  correct  as  it  is 
economically  insane.  It  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the  law 
of  evolution,  that  the  industrial  system,  which  tends  to 
centralize  and  socialize  the  laborer,  to  increase  the  economic 
interdependence  of  the  capitalist,  consumer  and  workman, 
and  to  make  the  material  well-being  of  the  masses  the  basis 
of  business  success,  possesses  all  the  possibilities  of  an 
ever-advancing  civilization,  and  must  in  the  nature  of  things 
be  the  foundation  of  the  industrial  system  of  the  future. 
Manifestly,  then,  it  is  not  to  the  abolition  of  the  wages 
system,  but  to  the  influences  which  advance  wages,  by  in- 
creasing the  leisure  and  educational  opportunities  for  de- 
veloping the  character,  capacity  and  freedom  of  the  laboring 
classes,  that  we  must  look  for  the  industrial  reforms  which 
shall  permanently  promote  the  evolution  of  the  highest 
individuality  and  the  broadest  social  democracy. 


EDUCATION  AS  A  FACTOR  IN 
CIVILIZATION. 


BY 

CAKOLINE   B.   Le  EOW 

Author  of  "English  as  She  is  Taught,"  "The  Young  Idea,"  etc 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology"  and  "Education";  Rich- 
ter's  "Levana";  Rousseau's  "Emile";  Farrar's  "Essay  on  Edu- 
cation"; Taylor's  "  Classical  Study  " ;  Bain's  "Education  as  a  Sci- 
ence"; Painter's  "History  of  Education";  Adams's  "School 
System"  ;  Potter's  " School  and  School  Master" ;  Randall's  "First 
Principles  of  Education";  Payne's  "Contributions  to  the  Science 
of  Education";  McCosh's  "Compulsory  Education";  Huxley's 
"Science  and  Education";  Lessing's  "Education  of  the  Race"; 
Lubbock's  "Present  System  of  Public  School  Education"  ;  Hacker's 
"Scientific  Basis  of  Education";  Everett's  "Importance  of  Prac- 
tical Education";  Dodge's  "Common  School  System";  Huxley's 
"Technical  Education";  Hajckel's  "Freedom  in  Science  and 
Teaching";  Fleay's  "Lectures  on  Education";  Ham's  "Manual 
Training";  Palmer's  "The  New  Education"  and  "Science  of  Ed- 
ucation"; Mann's  "Lectures  on  Education";  Peaslie's  "Moral 
and  Literary  Training  in  the  Public  Schools";  Mayo's  "Talks  to 
Teachers";  Laurie's  "Comenius  :  his  Life  and  Works";  Froude's 
"Essay  on  Education";  Morris'  "University  Education"  ;  Boone's 
"Education  in  the  United  States";  Dr.  Frances  Emily  White's 
"Muscle  and  Mind"  (in  Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  .July,  1889). 

(234) 


EDUCATION    AS    A    FACTOR    IN    CIVIL- 
IZATION.* 


Our  civilization  is  the  result  of  education.  The  -wqrld's 
intellectual  progress,  like  other  phases  of  evolution,  has 
encountered  many  obstacles,  met  with  vexatious  delays, 
made  unexpected  and  astonishing  strides  forward.  It  has 
sought  at  one  time  to  deify  the  body,  and  at  another  to 
sacrifice  the  body  to  the  soul.  It  has  been  injured  by  its 
friends,  aided  by  its  foes,  led  men  into  the  basest  bondage 
as  well  as  into  the  broadest  freedom,  and  still  forms  the 
subject  of  bitter  if  bloodless  controversy. 

Man  was  educated  before  books  were  thought  of,  and  his 
development  would  have  continued  if  a  school-house  had 
never  been  built.  The  stone  that  cut,  the  water  that  wet, 
the  hunger  which  drove  him  to  slay  wild  beasts,  and  the 
cold  which  led  him  to  wrap  himself  in  their  skins, —  all 
were  in  turn  his  teachers,  suggesting  to  him  new  relations 
and  combinations,  leading  him  to  draw  his  crude  inferences 
and  make  his  ckxmsy  experiments.  It  is  painful  and  little 
profitable  to  follow  the  slow  gropings  of  the  human  race 
in  its  efforts  to  reach  intellectual  light.  These  struggles 
are  pathetically  written  for  us  in  the  habitations  and  imple- 
ments left  upon  earth  by  primitive  man.  It  is  evident  that 
from  the  time  he  began  to  think  he  has  striven  to  think 
more  clearly  and  to  definite  ends,  growing  gradually  into 
a  realization  of  the  fact  that  it  was  possible  to  set  in  order 
the  results  of  his  experiments,  to  preserve  and  classify  the 
methods  by  which  certain  desirable  ends  had  been  attained, 
in  order  that  the  experience  of  the  mass  might  be  made  to 
benefit  the  individual.  So  came  the  teacher  and  the  school, 
to  supplement  the  work  of  Nature ;  but  it  has  only  lately 
been  decided  that  the  philosophical  method  in  edu.cation  is 
superior  to  xmaided  natural  instinct. 

Egypt,  the  cradle  of  the  sciences,  boasted  of  arts  and 
learning  while  Greece  was  in  a  state  of  barbarism  ;  in  fact, 

*  Copyright,  1890,  l)y  James  H.  West. 


236  Education  as  a  Factor  in  Civilization. 

it  was  to  the  Egyptians  that  the  Greeks  owed  their  civil- 
ization. We  know  that  Egypt  was  the  first  country  to 
recognize  the  need  of  education,  though  it  was  intended 
to  train  men  only  for  the  special  work  of  the  government. 
History  affords  us  no  light  by  which  we  ]uay  read  of 
Phoenicia  and  of  Persia  beyond  the  facts  that  the  Per- 
sians were  worshipers  not  only  of  fire  and  sun  but  of 
moral  excellence  as  well,  and  that  in  Persia  the  State 
appears  for  the  first  time  as  an  agency  in  promoting  educa- 
tion. Statements  concerning  Assyria  and  Babylon  differ 
as  much  as  newspapers  upon  the  opposite  sides  of  a  politi- 
cal campaign.  We  know  only  what  has  been  revealed  to 
us  by  explorers  among  the  ruins  of  their  magnificent 
palaces  and  temples.  Human  thought  reached  a  high 
standard  in  Cliina,  led  by  Confucius,  but  as  the  Chinese 
system  has  always  been  a  form  of  communication  rather 
than  development  education  has  never  been  a  matter  of 
growth.  The  student  works  always  with  one  eye  on  the 
examiner,  as  all  scholarship  is  for  the  sake  of  obtaining 
places  in  the  civil  service  of  the  empire.  No  girls  are 
allowed  to  attend  school,  but  to  make  up  for  this  loss  to  the 
nation  the  boys  are  required  to  go  at  daybreak  and  remain 
till  six  o'clock  at  night. 

Education  in  Rome  was  almost  wholly  military  and 
religious,  and  based  upon  the  strictest  family  discipline. 
The  Romans  were  thoroughly  utilitarian,  aiming  only  at 
the  education  of  obedient  and  devoted  citizens  and  soldiers. 
Strong,  heroic,  and  disciplined  men  were  the  result  of  this 
training,  although  it  held  in  contempt  the  graces  of  the  intel- 
lect and  the  heart.  The  Romans  seem  never  to  have  con- 
sidered education  an  affair  of  the  State.  Greece,  though  but  a 
speck  on  the  map  of  the  earth's  surface,  occupies  an  im- 
measurable area  in  the  empire  of  mind.  Its  name  is 
synonymous  with  genius,  philosophy,  and  art.  The  age  of 
Plato  and  Aristotle  was  the  age  of  the  beginnings  of  many 
of  the  sciences,  while  moral  and  ethical  speculation  began 
at  that  time  to  take  definite  shape.  It  was  a  saying  of 
Cicero  that  Socrates  "  brought  down  philosophy  from  the 
heavens  to  the  earth,"  and  the  influence  of  Grecian  thouglit 
is  to-day  a  mighty  power  in  the  intellectx;al  world. 

Among  the  early  Christians,  life  was  considered  merely  a 
preparation  for  death ;  classical  literature  represented  a 
pagan  religion;    ignorance  and   holiness  were   considered 


Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization.  237 

synonymous  terms,  and  all  learning  except  that  of  the 
priests  was  attributed  to  the  Father  of  Lies.  The  mental 
labor  of  the  ages  appeared  to  have  accomplished  nothing, 
for  the  past  was  practically  obliterated,  and  in  less  than  four 
hundred  years,  under  this  devastating  though  conscientious 
influence,  the  race  reverted  to  almost  its  original  mental 
obscurity.  But  the  intellectual  torpor  of  the  Middle  Ages 
cannot  be  wholly  attributed  to  the  church.  A  state  of  con- 
tinual conflict  is  not  conducive  to  study,  nor  does  an 
enslaved  people  ever  appreciate  education.  Moreover, 
where  a  dead  language  is  supreme,  the  mass  of  the  people 
must  remain  in  ignorance. 

In  the  twelfth  century  the  human  mind  began  to  stir  un- 
easily in  its  heavy  slumber,  but  it  was  temporarily  quieted 
hy  the  scholasticism  which  confused  the  awakening  intellect 
with  the  foolish  and  fantastic  speculations  of  monkish 
dialecticians.  Still,  this  form  of  exercise,  though  merely 
leading  the  mind  on  a  monotonous  march  through  jungles 
of  syllogisms  and  verbal  quibbles,  did  something  toward 
keeping  the  intellect  from  relapsing  into  utter  stupor  until 
it  could  be  aroused  into  real  activity. 

But  suddenly  there  came  the  shining  of  a  great  light 
upon  a  waiting  world,  the  dawning  of  that  intellectual  day 
which  was  to  make  the  sixteenth  century  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of  human  thought  and  aspiration.  The  mind  awoke 
to  intuitions  concerning  development  according  to  natural 
laws,  and  to  a  conception  and  hope  of  independence  and  prog- 
ress transcending  the  wildest  dreams  of  the  night  from 
which  it  had  emerged.  Erasmus,  Montaigne,  Rabelais,  Cal- 
vin and  Melancthon,  did  much  to  open  the  long-blinded  eyes, 
while  the  ink-stand  thrown  at  the  devil  by  Martin  Luther 
was  in  reality  the  challenge  hurled  by  Truth  to  Falsehood, 
and  the  signal  for  men  to  take  up  arms  in  the  holy  cause 
of  intellectual  liberty. 

The  common  school  has  been  called  "  the  child  of  Prot- 
estantism, whose  cradle  was  the  lleformation."  Comenius 
was  the  prophet  —  without  honor  —  of  our  present  educa- 
tional methods.  The  laws  formulated  by  him  on  the  art  of 
teaching,  and  the  grades  of  instruction  which  he  defined, 
leave  little  to  be  desired  at  the  present  day.  Progressive 
educators  of  our  time  merely  echo  the  words  of  Comenius, 
in  which  he  urges  the  instruction  of  the  young,  "  not  by 
beating  into  them  a  mass  of  words,  sentences,  and  opinions 


238  Education  as  a  Factor  iri   Civilization. 

gathered  oxit  of  books,  biit  by  opening  tljeir  understanding 
through  things  themselves."  Thus  was  planted,  almost 
three  hundred  years  ago,  the  germ  of  the  idea  which  has 
since  found  fruition  in  object-lessons. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits 
upon  the  world's  civilization.  These  Epicureans  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  they  have  been  named,  controlled  during  two 
hundred  years  over  six  hundred  colleges  and  many  universi- 
ties, a  power  lasting  till  almost  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  order  disdained  history,  science,  and  philos- 
ophy, their  labors  being  wholly  directed  to  the  propagation 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  the  ability  to  write  in  Latin  was 
their  idea  of  all  excellence.  A  correct  notion  of  the  tenor 
of  their  teaching  can  be  gathered  from  the  dictum,  "  "We  must 
be  so  attached  to  the  Roman  church  as  to  hold  for  black  any 
object  which  she  tells  us  is  black  even  when  it  is  white, 
and  if  God  should  appoint  for  our  master  an  animal  de- 
prived of  reason  we  should  not  hesitate  to  render  it  obedi- 
ence." It  is  only  by  a  close  study  of  the  rules  of  this 
order  that  it  is  possible  to  realize  the  cause  and  progress  of 
the  terrible  paralysis  from  which  it  has  not  yet  recovered 
thus  suffered  by  human  consciousness. 

A  summary  of  the  sixteenth  century  shows  that  the 
effect  produced  upon  education  by  the  Beformation  and  the 
Baconian  philosophy  was  the  subjection  of  matters  of  opin- 
ion to  reason,  observation,  and  experience,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  universal  instruction  in  order  to  make  each 
human  soul  responsible  for  its  own  salvation.  Schools 
were  consequently  multiplied  and  attendance  made  com- 
pulsory, ignorance  being  regarded  as  an  evil  and  a  menace 
to  temporal  as  well  as  to  sjjiritual  safety. 

The  vital  spark  of  the  intellectual  fire  which  warms  and 
illumines  our  system  of  the  present  day  was  caught  from 
the  devoted  Pestalozzi,  who,  with  tardy  justice,  is  acknowl- 
edged as  the  Father  of  tlie  Common  Schools.  Pestalozzi, 
largely  un])ractical,  failing  as  lawyer,  minister,  and  farmer, 
was  possessed  through  his  eighty  years  of  life  with  an 
affection  for  children  which  has  made  us  his  debtors  for  all 
time.  His  sxiccess  in  his  work  with  the  little  outcasts  upon 
whom  he  ex])erimented  was  remarkable.  His  attention 
was  directed  to  the  training  of  cliildren  as  distinct  from 
mere  instruction.  The  basis  of  his  method  was  the  devel- 
opment of  the  observing  and  reasoning  powers  —  an  exten- 


Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization.  239 

tion  of  the  object-teaching  of  Comenius,  to  whose  labors 
he  acknowledged  himself  indebted ;  and,  though  dying 
overwhelmed  with  mortifications  and  disappointments,  his 
name   remains  immortal  among  those  who  love  their  kind. 

Frcebel  continued  the  work  of  Pestalozzi,  and  like  him 
labored  less  for  his  own  time  than  for  our  day.  As  a 
child  he  was  dubbed  a  dunce,  and  if  it  be  true  that  "  genius 
is  the  faculty  of  acquiring  poverty,"  both  he  and  his  great 
master  must  be  placed  high  among  the  gifted  ones  of 
earth.  Like  him,  also,  Frcebel  was  dreamy,  unpractical, 
a  blundering  administrator  of  affairs.  He  made  many  mis- 
takes before  fixing  upon  his  final  vocation,  and  even  this 
proved  a  failure  so  far  as  he  personally  was  concerned. 
He  also,  a  victim  to  great  griefs,  died  believing  that  his 
life  had  been  lived  wholly  in  vain. 

It  is  with  the  Kindergarten  method  that  we  associate 
the  name  of  this  savior  of  little  children.  To  him  the 
child  was  a  plant  and  the  school  its  nursery.  Though 
much  of  the  seed  which  he  sowed  fell  in  stony  places,  much 
also  fell  on  good  ground  and  has  brought  forth  fruit  abun- 
dantly. We  feel  a  natural  and  profound  interest  in  Frce- 
bel's  frankly  expressed  opinion  that  the  kindergarten 
method  could  reach  its  fullest  development  only  in  Amer- 
ica, whose  national  principle  is  self-government, —  perfect 
freedom  according  to  law. 

The  pedagogy  of  our  own  century  proves  "  how  much  the 
years  teach  that  the  days  never  know,"  and  claims  the  proud 
distinction  of  inaugurating  the  attempt  to  organize  the 
grand  science  of  psychology,  the  highest  evolution  of  men- 
tal and  moral  philosophy,  little  at  present  understood, 
but  alone  able  to  furnish  rules  and  principles  upon  which 
intellectual  development  can  proceed.  It  is  now  for  tlie 
first  time  conceded  that  all  education  must  rest  upon  this 
scientific  basis,  while  methods  must  be  rationally  combined ; 
that  there  is,  practically,  no  limit  to  this  education,  or  to 
its  value  to  the  individual  and  the  State;  that  education, 
properly  understood,  is  preparation  for  "the  life  that  now  is," 
and  that  only  in  such  preparation  can  there  be  made 
adequate  provision  for  that  which  is  to  come. 

So  by  degrees,  imperceptible  to  each  generation  of 
men  who  in  their  brief  hour  of  life  and  narrow  field  of 
labor  struggled,  blundered,  suffered,  and  despaired,  the 
human  intellect  has  expanded  through  the  slow  centuries  of 


240  Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization. 

time,  governed  by  the  law  of  development  which  produces 
the  planet  from  the  star-dust  and  controls  the  motion  of 
the  rolling  spheres. 

Horace  Mann  declares  that,  "  as  an  innovation  upon  all 
pre-existing  policy  and  usage,  the  establishment  of  free 
schools  was  the  boldest  ever  promulgated  since  the  Chris- 
tian era," — convincing  words  if  we  realize  all  that  such 
establishment  implied* — the  most  practical  recognition  of 
the  brotherhood  of  man  that  could  have  followed  the  utter- 
ance of  the  doctrine  by  the  Great  Teacher  of  the  world. 
Less  than  two  centuries  ago  no  system  of  free  schools  was 
maintained  anywhere  on  earth.  To-day  there  is  no  civil- 
ized country  on  the  face  of  the  globe  which  does  not  possess 
some  of  its  advantages.  "VVe  can  almost  forgive  John  Cal- 
vin for  his  theology  in  realizing  our  indebtedness  to  him 
for  the  common-school  system.  By  Martin  Luther  it  was 
introduced  into  Germany ;  by  John  Knox  into  Scotland ; 
and,  crossing  the  ocean  in  the  tempest-tossed  Mayflower, 
set  firm  foot  upon  Plymouth  Rock.  The  school,  once 
killed  by  the  church,  was  years  after  re-created  by  tlie 
same  poAver  grown  through  evolution  wiser  in  its  policy, 
broader  in  its  views  and  aims. 

One  of  the  most  important  variations  now  proposed 
in  connection  with  the  public-school  system  is  the  incor- 
poration in  the  course  of  study  of  manual,  industrial,  or 
technical  training.  This  new  departure,  known  by  all 
these  names,  meets  with  opposition  only  from  the  few  fright- 
ened spirits  who  persist  in  looking  upon  it  as  an  attempt  to 
substitute  the  labors  of  the  workshop  for  the  legitimate 
intellectual  training  of  the  school.  Properly  it  has  refer- 
ence only  to  education  in  its  most  comprehensive  sense; 
the  addition  of  practice  to  theory,  experiment  to  observa- 
tion, the  correct  eye  and  skilful  hand  to  the  developed 
brain,  that  the  youth  graduated  from  our  schools  shall 
be  fitted  not  only  for  clerkships  and  professions,  as  is  now 
the  case,  but  for  the  skilled  labor  which  the  world  so  sorely 
needs.  This  idea,  though  considered  so  new  a  thing 
under  the  sun,  was  most  eloquently  advocated  by  Locke  and 
Lutlier,  and  in  our  own  country,  two  hundred  years  ago,  by 
a  Quaker  —  honored  be  liis  memory  —  Thomas  Budd  of  Bur- 
lington, New  Jersey.  But  the  wisdom  of  the  idea  is  not 
yet  practically  recognized  to  any  great  extent,  though 
wherever  the  experiment  has  been  tried  it  has  proved  suc- 
cessful. 


Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization.  241 

A  Nihilist  lecturer  recently  stated  that  there  are  four 
hundred  schools  in  Europe  whose  sole  work  is  to  teach  the 
use  of  explosives,  and  there  are  already  a  few  of  these 
schools  in  the  United  States.  If  the  Old  World  is  thus 
diligently  sowing  the  seeds  of  discontent  and  rebellion, 
scattering  some  of  them  on  our  own  too  prolific  soil, 
teaching  that  to  brute  force  alone  can  humanity  look  for 
the  redress  of  its  wrongs,  how  much  more  necessary  it  be- 
comes for  this  new  continent  to  show  the  world  that  not 
in  killing  each  other,  but  in  helping  each  other  to  live,  is 
the  only  possible  solution  of  our  social  difficulties.  Unless 
our  schools  can  teach  respect  for  labor,  it  will  never  be 
learned ;  and  unless  it  is  learned,  and  learned  practically, 
we  may  expect  worse  things  to  come  upon  us  than  any  of 
the  lamentable  upheavals  which  of  late  years  have  dis- 
turbed and  threatened  society.  Manual  training  is  the 
logical  outcome  of  the  kindergarten  principle  as  advocated 
by  Froebel,  the  foundation  for  thorough  and  symmetrical 
development.  No  true  education  is  possible  which  ignores 
either  of  these  factors,  so  lately  recognized,  so  reluctantly 
adopted.  Those  who  consider  the  name  of  the  French 
nation  a  synonym  for  frivolity  may  yet  feel  considerable 
hope  for  the  future  of  a  country  whose  principal  city  is 
supporting  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  free  kindergartens, 
educating  —  body  and  soul,  as  well  as  brain  —  more  than 
thirty  thousand  of  its  coming  citizens.  The  application 
of  this  simple  principle  of  political  economy  has  been 
made  in  a  few  cities  of  our  own  country,  and  the  testi- 
mony of  tlie  police  concerning  the  consequent  diminution 
of  disorder  and  crime  in  those  places  proves  beyond  all 
need  of  argument  the  superiority  of  prevention  to  cure. 

The  only  valid  reason  given  for  not  including  kinder- 
garten and  manual  training  in  our  school-course  is  the 
difficulty  of  obtaining  funds  for  the  enterprise  and 
teachers  qualified  to  conduct  it.  Few  of  these  teachers 
yet  exist  —  for  they  nuist  be  teachers  as  well  as  mechanics 
—  but  many  are  enthusiastically  serving  an  apprentice- 
ship. In  the  meantime  the  fact  that  the  best  educational 
thought  of  the  civilized  world  is  engrossed  in  the  prac- 
tical consideration  of  these  reforms  guarantees  the  hope 
of  their  ultimate  adoption. 

However  much  at  variance  may  be  our  theory  and  our 
practice,  it  is  conceded  that  character  is  the  aim  of  cul- 


242  Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization. 

ture,  and  the  only  diversity  of  opinion  concerns  the  means 
whereby  this  aim  may  be  secured.  If  the  only  way  to  di- 
minish the  amount  of  wrong-doing  is  to  diminish  the  num- 
ber of  wrong-doers,  it  becomes  of  the  highest  consequence 
that  our  youth  shall  be  instructed  in  the  ethical  principles 
agreed  upon  by  all  philosophers  from  Socrates  to  Spencer. 
But  whether  this  training  is  sufficient  is  a  question  upon 
which  wise  men  radically  disagree.  The  spirit  of  the 
Puritans,  who,  if  a  youthful  historian  is  to  be  believed, 
^'  came  to  this  country  to  worship  God  in  their  own  way  and 
to  compel  other  people  to  do  the  same,"  is  not  wholly  ex- 
tinct among  us. 

The  first  religious  difficulty  concerning  our  schools 
arose  as  long  ago  as  1823.  It  has  become  formidable 
since  Pope  Pius  IX.,  in  1875,  pronounced  our  school 
system  "  a  most  pernicious  system,"  and  ordered  that  the 
prelates  use  every  possible  means  to  protect  the  flock  com- 
mitted to  their  care  from  all  contact  with  the  public 
schools.  One  of  the  leading  church  papers  declares  that 
"  out  of  one  hundred  children  educated  in  the  public  schools, 
ninety-six  are  a  clear  and  certain  gain  to  the  devil."  This 
is  a  fair  sample  of  the  editorial  utterances  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  press,  which  calls  doAvn  anathemas  upon  the  heads 
of  those  who  allow  their  children  to  attend  other  than 
paroclxial  schools.  But  the  ecclesiastical  curse  appears  to 
carry  small  weight  when  it  threatens  the  educational  wel- 
fare of  their  families,  and  many  of  the  Catholic  clergy, 
though  guarded  in  expression,  are  upon  the  side  of  the 
defiant  parents. 

The  separation  of  Church  and  State  left  the  school  a 
disputed  territory  for  both  to  quarrel  over,  and  two  phases 
of  Christianity  are  just  now  on  trial ;  but  the  fittest  will 
survive,  for  the  jury  to  decide  the  case  is  composed  not 
of  a  dozen  men,  but  of  millions,  upon  whose  intelligence, 
not  ignorance,  the  verdict  is  to  rest.  "  The  old-world  order 
of  things,"  says  Holmes,  "  is  an  arrangement  of  locks  and 
canals,  where  safety  depends  upon  keeping  the  gates  shut 
and  so  holding  tlie  upper  waters  at  their  level ;  but  Amer- 
ica trusts  the  whole  tide  of  life  to  the  great  elemental 
influences,  as  the  vast  rivers  of  the  continent  settle  their 
own  level  in  obedience  to  the  laws  which  govern  the 
jilanet  and  the  spheres  whicli  surround  it."  Upon  those 
who  declare  that  ''godless  schools"  are  the  cause  of  crime. 


Education  as  a  Factor  in  Civilization.  243 

rests  the  burden  of  proof.  While  a  good  education  and  a 
skilful  handwriting  may  lead  to  forgery  and  to  prison, 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  must  do  so.  It  is 
an  unceasing  wonder  that  our  schools,  working  under  so 
many  and  such  great  disadvantages,  offer  such  successful 
resistance  to  the  turbulent  tides  of  ignorance  and  deprav- 
ity threatening  to  overwhelm  us.  The  very  existence 
of  the  schools  implies  moral  education,  and  the  children 
who  are  learning  the  physical  law  that  a  body  unsupported 
falls  to  the  ground  are  just  as  surely  learning  the  moral 
lesson  that  sin  is  followed  by  suffering. 

While  it  is  assumed  that  schools  supported  by  public 
money  for  the  public  benefit  should  exclude  all  forms  of 
religious  teaching,  it  cannot  yet  be  claimed  that  they  are 
doing  all  that  is  desirable  or  possible  in  the  direction  of 
moral  development.  The  too-commonly  conceited,  law- 
less spirit  of  our  youth  is  something  to  be  considered 
with  fasting  and  prayer, —  if,  so  be  it,  this  kind  goeth  not 
out  otherwise, —  and  is  represented  by  the  eager  fellow 
who  ordered  to  be  made,  for  a  high  school,  a  class  badge 
hearing  the  figure  of  the  graduate  and  the  world  of  knowl- 
edge he  was  supposed  to  have  conquered, —  the  youth  to  be 
two  inches  high,  the  earth  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
The  moral  tone  of  the  school  can  improve  only  as  there  is 
improvement  in  the  teaching  and  directing  force.  When 
superficial  study,  love  of  display,  and  haste  for  results, 
give  place  —  as  they  surely  will  in  time  —  to  the  slow  and 
oareful  culture  which,  tempted  to  no  selfishness  or  deceit, 
develops  not  only  mind  but  body  and  soul  as  well,  the 
graduates  of  our  schools  will  stand  erect  in  the  stature 
of  an  emancipated  and  spiritualized  manhood  and  woman- 
hood, regarding  the  world  and  their  fellow-men  in  that 
humble,  teachable,  and  reverent  spirit  which  characterizes 
the  true  scholar. 

Crime  is  the  costliest  product  of  our  civilization,  and  we 
pay  most  for  what  we  desire  least.  In  1870  only  fou.r  per 
cent,  of  the  population  of  England  of  school-going  age 
were  under  instruction,  and  many  believe  that  the  adoption 
in  that  year  of  the  English  Elementary  Education  Act 
saved  the  country  from  revolution.  Pauperism  and  crime 
diminished  in  proportion  as  school  attendance  increased. 
In  our  country  crime  is  increasing  to  a  greater  relative 
degree  than  in  any  other  civilized  country  except  Italy  and 


244  Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization. 

Spain,  nor  is  our  prison  population  composed  wholly  of 
illiterates  or  foreigners.  In  New  York  six  millions  of 
dollars  a  year  are  hardly  sufficient  to  pay  for  police  and 
prisons,  while  a  little  over  half  that  sum  is  considered 
ample  for  schools.  Germany  was  the  first  nation  to  dis- 
cover that  prevention,  the  moral  medication  which  seeks 
to  remove  causes  rather  than  symptoms,  is  the  only  sane 
method  of  curing  crime.  If  ignorance  is  the  cause  of 
crime,  has  not  society  as  much  right  to  place  a  child  in 
school  as  it  has  in  later  years  to  put  that  same  child  in 
prison  ?  The  law  ordains  vaccination, —  why  not  educa- 
tion ?  Kingsley  has  said  that,  "  when  the  devil  cannot 
find  a  knave  for  his  purpose,  he  secures  a  fool,  which  answers 
just  as  Avell "  ;  and  Lord  Brougham,  years  ago,  stated  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  "If,  from  an  early  age,  a  proper  system 
of  instruction  is  pursued,  it  will  be  as  difficult  for  a  child 
to  become  a  criminal  as  for  one  of  your  lordships  to  go 
out  and  rob  on  the  public  highway."  With  the  exceptions 
of  Holland  and  Belgium,  education  is  now  compulsory  in 
every  foreign  country.  The  monarchical  governments  of 
Europe  are  sagacious  enough  to  perceive  that  as  intelli- 
gence and  opportunity  for  its  use  are  rapidly  increasing 
on  the  earth,  it  is  the  part  of  wise  legislation  to  direct  this 
intelligence  in  such  a  way  as  to  insure  political  safety. 
Can  this  American  republic  afford  to  do  less  than  this  ? 
Without  education  there  can  be  no  intelligence ;  without 
intelligence  there  can  be  no  enlightened  ballot,  and  without 
the  ballot  there  can  be  no  preservation  of  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment conceded  to  be  the  highest  evolution  yet  attained 
of  liberty,  law,  and  order. 

The  university  was  the  sole  educational  institution  of 
tlie  Middle  Ages,  when  the  classics  furnished  all  there  was 
to  be  learned.  But  the  life  and  world  of  to-day  is 
hardly  that  of  the  fathers.  Gladstone  is  authority  for 
tlie  statement  that  from  1800  to  1850  there  Avas  produced 
as  much  permanent  wealth  as  during  the  entire  eighteen 
hundred  years  preceding.  It  is  not  easy  to  grasp  this  stu- 
pendous fact  in  all  its  relations  to  the  social  and  intellect- 
ual deve]()pment  of  man.  One  hundred  years  ago  there 
was  hardly  any  science  entitled  to  the  name.  Biology 
and  ethnology  are  the  growth  of  our  own  century.  The 
study  of  chemistry  has  been  itself  transmuted  during  tlie 
past  fifty  years.     Botany,  geology,  astronomy,  as  avcU  as 


Education  as  a  factor  in   Civilization.  245 

history  and  geography,  have  been  greatly  enlarged  in  scope 
and  method.  As  for  the  social  subjects  clamoring  for  study, 
the  number  is  already  enormous,  and  constantly  increasing, 
while  there  is  constant  discussion  of  the  question,  "  Is  the 
college  a  help  or  a  hindrance  to  man  in  his  preparation 
for  the  work  of  life  ?  "  A  leading  educational  paper  has 
recently  declared  that,  "  except  a  skinned  eel  or  a  boiled 
lobster  few  things  are  worse  prepared  for  life  than  the 
average  college  graduate."  If  this  be  so,  it  is  cause  for 
thankfulness  that  in  New  England,  at  least,  the  number  of 
persons  in  colleges  is  no  larger  than  the  number  in  insane 
asylums,  though  more  people  of  the  United  States  take  a 
college  course  than  those  of  any  other  country.  In  England 
there  is  loud  complaint  that  the  universities  are  not  keep- 
ing pace  with  the  progress  of  the  people,  and  that  a  smaller 
number  of  educated  men  are  every  year  coming  to  the 
front.  According  to  President  Eliot  of  Harvard,  the  ordi- 
nary American  college-graduate  is  nearly  thirty  years  of 
age  before  he  becomes,  even  theoretically,  self-supporting, 
and  then  is  fitted  only  for  professions  already  overcrowded. 
Certain  it  is  that  neither  in  school  nor  college  will  medi- 
aeval methods  much  longer  satisfy  the  demands  of  this 
modern  day.  Evolution  is  reconstructing  the  fundamental 
conceptions  of  education  as  well  as  of  philosophy  and 
religion.  Althovigh  from  the  magnitude  of  the  movement 
its  results  are  not  readily  apparent  to  the  impatient  or 
careless  observer,  this  fact  is  practically  recognized  in 
most  of  our  colleges  to-day.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are 
rising  in  their  efforts  to  reach  downward  to  the  common 
people.  Harvai'd  and  Yale  are  developing  new  and  wise 
policies.  The  elective  system,  tried  experimentally  for 
twenty  years  before  its  permanent  adoption,  is  now  almost 
universally  accepted.  Many  post-graduate  courses  have 
been  added  for  the  adaptation  of  studies  to  individual 
needs ;  and  not  only  in  the  intellectual  but  in  the  moral 
environment  of  the  college  has  evolution  been  steadily  at 
work, —  for,  much  as  we  deplore  the  riotous  outbreaks  which 
occasionally  scandalize  our  university  towns,  we  are  soothed 
and  encouraged  by  the  remembrance  that  the  old  Vienna 
statutes  found  it  necessary  to  specify  that  "the  students 
shall  not  spend  more  time  in  drinking,  gaming,  and  fighting 
than  at  logic  and  physics." 

If  the  addition  of  a  grammar-school  training  increases 


246  Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization. 

the  value  of  a  primary  one ;  if  the  high-school  course 
which  follows  furnishes  still  better  preparation  for  the 
work  of  life,  why  should  not  the  broader  culture  of  the 
college  render  the  most  valuable  aid  of  all  ?  To  do  so  is 
its  intention  and  its  aim,  and,  although  it  has  not  yet 
reached  this  condition  of  ideal  excellence,  it  is  not  un- 
mindful of  the  responsibilities  of  its  high  estate  nor 
unwilling  to  fit  itself  to  discharge  them.  To  the  law  of 
natural  selection,  which  "takes  advantage  of  such  varia- 
tions as  arise  and  are  beneficial  to  each  creature  in  its 
complex  relations  of  life,"  we  are  justified  in  trusting 
the  future  of  our  colleges  as  of  all  our  schools. 

The  agitation  concerning  classical  study  is  not  of  re- 
cent date ;  it  has  existed  in  every  country  where  the 
classics  form  part  of  the  school  course.  In  Germany  and 
Prussia  the  contest  has  been  long  and  bitter;  lately  the 
war  has  been  spirited  in  England ;  it  was  recently  revived 
in  Scotland,  and  began  in  this  country  almost  a  century 
ago.  Greek  was  welcomed  by  Christian  Europe  as  the  orig- 
inal of  the  New  Testament.  Latin  was  the  ground-work  of 
education  simply  because  it  was  the  language  of  the  edu- 
cated classes ;  it  was  employed  for  all  public  business 
and  for  the  service  of  the  church,  and  at  one  time  the  clas- 
sics contained  all  the  history,  poetry,  and  philosophy  of 
any  value.  The  disposition  to  quarrel  with  the  classics 
arises  solely  from  the  assumption  that  they  crowd  out  more 
important  matters.  No  one  denies  the  beauty  and  the 
power  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  tongues;  thousands  of 
scholarly  men  enthusiastically  testify  to  the  profit  and  re- 
creation of  the  study  ;  but  tlie  fatal  feature  of  the  situa- 
tion lies  in  the  great  difference  between  what  classical  study 
can  do,  and  what  it  practically  does  do,  for  the  majority  of 
students.  To  be  pure,  Greek  and  Roman  literature  is  ac- 
cessible only  throvigh  the  dead  languages  ;  but  the  opinion 
is  steadily  gaining  ground  that  all  wisdom  did  not  die 
with  the  ancients.  Classical  study,  limited  as  to  place 
and  proportion,  must  certainly  remain  one  of  the  essentials 
of  a  liberal  education,  though  the  wisdom  of  long-dead  gen- 
erations is  not  all  that  is  required  by  the  man  of  to-day. 
The  retention  of  the  study  Avill  prove  that  "  descent  with 
modifications"  obtains  in  the  intellectual  no  less  than 
in  tlie  organic  world. 

The    study  of    physical   ])n)blems    from  tlie    standpoint 


Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization.  247 

of  evolution  discards  the  notion  of  a  vital  force  to  ac- 
count for  living  phenomena.  The  substitution  of  continuity 
of  life  and  growth  for  special  creation  has  naturally  revo- 
lutionized all  that  was  formerly  called  science.  Sir  John 
Lubbock  is  convinced  that  the  civilization  of  a  people  is 
measured  by  their  progress  in  science,  and,  in  its  broadest 
sense,  philosophy  must  accept  the  fact.  Wise  and  ex- 
perienced men,  lately  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  condi- 
tion of  education  in  England,  agree  that  the  universal 
neglect  of  science  is  little  less  than  a  national  misfortune, 
and  that  the  study  must  be  adopted  if  England  desires  to 
retain  her  position  in  the  van  of  industrial  nations.  This 
is  no  less  true  of  all  other  countries.  At  present  the 
teaching  of  science,  throughout  the  world,  with  the  possi- 
ble exception  of  Germany,  is  largely  experimental,  and 
there  will  be  no  improvement  in  this  respect  until  the 
value  of  the  study  is  definitely  recognized. 

Epaminondas  declared,  "I  rule  the  Thebans,  and  my 
wife  rules  me ;  thus  you  see  who  is  the  ruler  of  Thebes." 
Two  thousand  years  ago  the  great  conqueror  of  Sparta 
was  wise  enough  in  his  generation  to  recognize  and  admit  a 
fact  which  the  modern  world  has  been  slow  to  accept.  It  is 
surprising,  in  view  of  her  influence  upon  the  world,  that 
woman's  education  has  not  always  been  the  first  concern  of 
the  State,  but  the  church  alone  distinguished  itself  by  a 
recognition  of  its  necessity.  When  Pope  suggested  the 
idea  of  a  college  for  women  it  Avas  ridiculed  as  the  chimera 
of  an  irresponsible  mind.  When,  in  this  country,  a  little 
over  fifty  years  ago,  Mrs.  Emma  Willard  petitioned  the  I^ew 
York  State  Legislature  for  aid  in  establishing  schools 
for  the  advanced  education  of  women,  she  begged  not  to  be 
misunderstood  concerning  the  limit  of  her  desire,  as  "the 
absurdity  of  sending  girls  to  college  must  strike  every 
one."  A  vast  amount  of  this  absvirdity  has  been  witnessed 
since  Yassar  College  opened  its  doors  to  women  just  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  and  the  Harvard  Annex  —  significant  name  — 
to-day  offers  to  young  women  better  advantages  than  young 
men  could  command  in  any  college  in  the  country  fifteen 
years  ago, —  an  example  of  social  and  intellectual  evolu- 
tion moving  on  parallel  lines.  Women  are  to-day  practis- 
ing at  the  bar  in  sixteen  States  and  three  Territories  ; 
nearly  two  hundred  pulpits  are  regularly  occupied  by  women ; 
six   medical   colleges  exclusively  for  women,  and  thirty- 


248  ]£ducatio7i  us  a  Factor  in   Civilization. 

six  in  which  they  are  allowed  to  share  in  the  instruction 
given  to  their  brothers,  have  already  placed  three  thou- 
sand women  in  lucrative  medical  practice.  Austria  is  to- 
day the  only  civilized  country  of  the  world  which  debars 
woman  from  this  field  of  professional  labor.  In  twelve 
States  women  are  eligible  as  county  school  superintendents, 
and  in  fourteen  they  share  in  school  control.  "When  the 
English  Elementary  Education  Act  was  passed,  women  were 
at  once  elected  to  school-boards,  one  of  them  receiving 
twenty  thousand  more  votes  than  any  other  candidate. 
There  was  not  even  the  least  discussion  about  the  matter. 
When  Prof.  Huxley  resigned  from  the  London  Board  he 
gave  as  a  reason  for  so  doing  his  belief  that  a  woman  could 
better  fill  the  place.  Three  years  later  Boston  elected 
women  to  the  same  positions,  but  not  with  the  ease  which 
had  characterized  the  process  in  England.  The  Supreme 
Court  worried  itself  for  an  entire  year  over  the  momentous 
question  of  their  eligibility,  and  when  at  last  it  was  de- 
cided that  no  woman  could  or  ought  to  serve  in  such  a  capac- 
ity, the  legislature  promptly  passed  a  law  opening  all 
school-boards  to  women  —  and  both  the  boards  and  the 
women  have  so  far  survived  it.  A  few  other  cities  have 
followed  the  example  set  by  Old  and  New  England,  while 
others  are  gradually  gaining  courage  to  give  women  —  the 
mothers  of  all  the  children  and  the  teachers  of  three-fourths 
of  them  —  the  privilege  of  expressing  an  opinion  as  to  how 
these  children  shall  be  cared  for,  but  with  painful  realiza- 
tion of  the  solemn  fact  that  in  so  doing  they  are  running 
a  most  awful  risk.  The  Alumnae  Association,  formed  in 
1882  by  the  graduates  of  the  women's  colleges,  has  now  a 
membership  of  nearly  one  thousand,  with  branch  organiza- 
tions in  several  cities.  It  is  arranging  for  home  study  and 
advanced  courses  for  stiulents,  investigating  many  impor- 
tant social  questions,  and  collecting  facts  concerning  the 
results  of  higher  education  for  women. 

Why  it  is  so  monstrous  a  thing  for  men  and  womeii  to 
study  together,  while  they  live  aiul  labor  together  in  all 
other  relations  of  life,  is  one  of  the  profound  mysteries 
which  science  has  yet  to  solve,  but  co-education,  so  far 
as  it  lias  been  tried,  has  not  perceptibly  undermined  the 
foundations  of  society.  Oberlin  College  was  brave 
enough  to  introduce  this  innovation  in  1833,  and  since 
that  time   many  of   our  best  colleges  have  allowed   their 


Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization.  249 

doors  to  be  cautiously  set  ajar  for  the  possible  entrance 
of  women,  or  have  thrown  them  wide  open  with  hospitable 
invitation.  At  Harvard,  the  feminine  candidate  for  a  de- 
gree must  accept  in  its  place  the  certificate  which  testifies 
that  her  scholarship  is  all  that  could  be  desired,  but  that 
she  is — not  a  man.  Princeton  is  sure  that  it  is  a  sin 
against  Nature  for  a  woman  to  take  a  college  course,  but 
cheerfully  aids  and  abets  the  sinner  by  giving  her  a  degree 
if  she  sins  successfully  in  the  college — campus.  In 
Boston  University,  "  a  woman's  a  woman,  but  the  sex  is 
but  the  guinea's  stamp ;  the  brain's  the  gowd  for  a'  that," 
and  in  its  last  catalogue  the  names  leading  four  of  its 
classes  are  —  not  those  of  men.  It  is  a  matter  of  small 
wonder  to  the  logical  mind  that  co-education  is  having  so 
severe  a  struggle  for  existence,  considering  the  immense 
weight  of  the  only  argument  ever  brought  against  it  —  the 
only  one  necessary  being  so  convincing —  namely,  ''Women 
have  not  brains  enough  to  study  with  men.  If  women 
study  with  men,  the  women  will  take  all  the  prizes :  there- 
fore women  must  not  be  admitted  to  men's  colleges." 

In  an  age  Avhen  man  lived  in  castles  with  walls  three 
feet  thick,  judiciously  and  tastefully  surrounded  by  moat 
and  ditch,  draw-bridge  and  portcullis ;  spending  most  of 
his  not  particularly  valuable  time  in  shooting  arrows  and 
pouring  hot  oil  from  the  tops  of  his  towers  upon  the 
heads  of  his  enemies, —  no  one  will  deny  that  during  these 
little  neighborhood  excitements,  so  far  as  woman  was  con- 
cerned, home  was  the  best  place  for  her.  Later,  when 
with  axe  and  gun  he  cleared  tho  forest  and  protected  his 
cabin  from  wild  beasts  while  seeking  food  and  fuel  for  its 
inmates,  it  was  quite  according  to  the  fitness  of  things 
that  the  feminine  portion  of  the  family  should  stay  in 
doors  to  keep  the  fire  and  to  cook  the  food.  But  social 
safety  and  comfort  are  no  longer  secured  by  arrow,  axe, 
and  gun,  but  by  money  made  in  business  and  votes  cast  into 
a  ballot-box.  Women's  environment  is  no  longer  that  of 
bears  and  barbarians.  Homemakers, —  the  world  is  sus- 
tained by  them,  and  their  office  is  one  of  the  noblest  on 
earth  ;  but  the  appliances  which  have  lightened  the  labor 
of  the  outside  world  are  represented  in  the  household  also. 
Home  will  always  be  a  good  place  for  woman  —  as  for  man 
—  but  it  is  not  always  the  best  place,  nor  by  any  means  the 
only  place.     Perhaps  it  has  been   necessary  for  Avoman's 


250  Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization, 

education  to  wait  until  the  world's  material  interests  were 
in  large  measure  provided  for.  But  physical  force  has 
successfully  done  its  work  while  the  world  has  gradually 
been  growing  into  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  for  its 
mental  and  moral  upbuilding  the  power  of  only  one-half 
of  the  human  race  is  only  one-half  sufficient.  How  can  I 
refrain  from  referring  to  the  fact,  although  so  well  known 
to  you,  that  the  discoverer  of  Spencer  and  his  regenerat- 
ing philosophy, — not  merely  the  Isabella  but  the  Colum- 
bus of  this  new  world  of  thought  and  influence, —  was  a 
woman  ?  Against  the  darkness  and  degradation  of  hundreds 
of  centuries  is  to  be  measured  woman's  progress  during  the 
last  fifty  years,  proving  that  this  late  and  reluctant  recog- 
nition of  her  brain  and  soul  is  the  most  advanced  step 
yet  taken  by  civilization  and  will  become  significant  in 
proportion  as  the  fogs  of  custom  and  tradition  give  place 
to  the  clear  sunshine  of  logical  and  progressive  thought. 
Woman  stands  to-day  the  crowning  though  uncompleted 
work  of  sociological  evolution. 

Many  of  the  world's  brilliant  men  and  women  have 
won  their  greatest  distinction  by  their  labors  in  the  cause 
of  education  ;  but,  singularly  enough,  it  is  only  tlie  theo- 
rists who  have  done  this.  For  their  disciples,  wlio  have 
tried  to  work  out  these  theories,  society  has  generally  felt, 
until  within  a  very  few  years,  a  negative  contempt.  One  of 
the  most  imperative  demands  of  the  day  is  an  adequate 
estimate  of  the  teacher's  office,  and  the  need  of  prepara- 
tion for  those  who  fill  it.  The  man  who  cuts  the  hair  on 
the  outside  of  the  child's  head  is  supposed  to  have  had 
sufficient  training  before  undertaking  the  business;  but 
how  about  the  teaclier  to  whom  the  child's  mental  and 
moral  nature  is  unquestionably  confided  ?  A  car})enter 
who  has  learned  his  trade  can  earn  three  dollars  a  day 
while  working  at  it.  Many  teachers  labor  for  one-third 
that  sum.  Logically,  the  man  who  builds  your  house  is 
worth  three  times  the  teacher  who  trains  your  child. 
Your  house  may  be  blown  down,  or  burned  down,  and  you 
may  build  another  even  better  tlian  the  first.  Your  child 
may  break  your  heart  and  be  an  immense  powpr  for  evil  in 
the  lives  of  countless  of  his  fellow-men.  What  can  you 
do  about  it  ?  Xothing  is  more  surprising  among  the  many 
anomalies  of  education,  tlian  that,  while  the])roi)er  training 
of  youth  has  been  considered  of  paramount  importance,  the 


Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization.  251 

training  of  those  who  were  to  train  the  youth  has  been  re- 
garded as  of  no  particular  consequence.  Although  the 
legislators  of  the  French  Revolution  may  appear  to  us  like 
so  many  reeds  shaken  by  the  wind,  they  were,  notwithstand- 
ing, the  first  ones  to  see  that  for  education  were  needed 
educators.  To  them  is  due  the  credit  of  the  foundation 
of  normal  schools,  though  few  are  yet  in  existence  and 
those  few  mainly  the  growth  of  the  last  twenty  years.  Edu- 
cation is  a  science,  as  is  surgery,  and  why  is  it  not  reason- 
able to  demand  fitness  for  the  work  of  the  school-room 
as  for  that  of  the  hospital  ? —  more,  indeed,  if  we  are  to 
fear  less  those  who  kill  the  body  than  those  who  have  power 
to  kill  the  soul.  Public  money  spent  for  the  training 
of  teachers  is  capital  invested  at  compound  interest,  and 
teaching  should  be  made  as  profitable,  at  least,  as  hoeing 
corn.  Not  much  longer  will  the  teacher  be  allowed  to  tell 
to-day  the  source  of  a  river  if  she  must  wait  till  to- 
morrow to  find  out  where  it  empties ;  and  the  time  is  soon 
coming  when  the  trustees  of  a  district  will  hesitate  to  offer 
her  three  dollars  a  week  for  services,  and  charge  her 
four  dollars  a  week  for  board,  for  "  the  English-speaking 
race  leads  the  world,  and  the  teachers  of  that  race  are  the 
ones  who  will  decide  what  its  future  is  to  be." 

It  is  true,  as  Carlyle  says,  that  ''our  school-hours  are 
all  the  days  and  nights  of  our  existence,  whose  lessons 
stream  in  iipon  us  Avith  every  breath  w^e  draw."  Telegraph, 
locomotive,  and  steamship ;  social,  church,  and  commercial 
relations ;  literary  and  art  clubs,  scientific  societies,  our 
great  libraries  and  museums,  Arctic  expeditions,  African 
explorations,  geographical  surveys,  international  exposi- 
tions,—  none  of  these  forces  can  be  overlooked  in  an 
estimate  of  the  educational  factors  of  civilization.  Think, 
too,  of  the  avalanche  of  matter  daily  falling  from  the  press, 
—  in  such  an  amount  and  Avith  such  rapidity  that  even 
the  person  of  entire  leisure  despairs  of  acquaintance  with 
it,  and  so  cheap  that  for  ten  cents  apiece  can  be  purchased 
the  masterpieces  of  our  own  and  other  languages, —  evolu- 
tion indeed  from  the  time  when  the  eyes  of  the  people 
rested  only  upon  one  book  and  merely  the  outside  of  that, — 
the  bible,  fastened  to  the  altar  by  its  heavy  chain,  fit  symbol 
of  the  intellectual  bondage  of  the  race. 

If  education,  both  as  cause  and  effect,  can  do  so  much 
for  the  world,  it  logically  follows  that  its  direction   and 


252  Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization. 

development  is  one  of  the  profoundest  concerns  of  society. 
Yet  in  comparison  with  all  that  is  waiting  to  be  done, 
how  little  has  been  accomplished  !  Throughout  all  Chris- 
tendom, from  thousands  of  mines  and  factories,  is  heard 
"  the  cry  of  the  children  "  for  the  human  birthright  of 
which  they  are  defrauded;  the  vagabond  and  criminal 
classes,  increasing  at  an  appalling  rate,  are  the  despair 
of  the  legislative  wisdom  required  to  deal  with  them,  yet 
compulsory  education  is  hardly  more  than  a  name,  and  the 
best  education  yet  devised  makes  only  negative  provision 
for  moral  development ;  great  teachers,  much  as  they  are 
needed,  are,  as  Lowell  says,  "rarer  than  great  poets,"  and 
the  world  is  blind  to  the  fact  that  it  can  better  dispense 
with  the  poet  than  with  the  pedagogue ;  the  subjects  of 
physical  and  manual  as  well  as  moral  training  are  at 
present  mere  educational  nebulae ;  the  supreme  value  of 
primary  education  is  still  only  grudgingly  conceded ;  higher 
education  can  hardly  hold  its  own,  to  say  nothing  of 
making  headway,  against  spirited  opposition  ;  agreement 
has  yet  to  be  reached  as  to  what  constitutes  a  liberal  edu- 
cation and  to  what  extent  the  State  may  be  called  upon 
to  furnish  it ;  the  great  mystery  of  heredity,  whose  powers 
and  possibilities  form  so  mighty  an  element  in  all  educa- 
tion, is  not  yet  penetrated ;  there  is  no  work  in  the  world 
carried  on  with  such  wicked  waste  of  time  and  material, 
such  enormous  and  needless  friction,  as  that  of  educa- 
tion, and  it  is  no  small  matter  for  Americans  to  consider 
that,  notwithstanding  our  vast  expenditures  for  schools 
and  our  claim  of  superior  culture,  the  boys  and  girls  of 
this  country  are  two  years  behind  the  youth  of  Europe  in 
all  important  respects.  In  the  meantime  great  social 
jn-obleuis,  tragic  in  their  extent  and  significance,  are 
clutching  civilization  by  the  throat  and  will  not  relax 
their  threatening  hold  until  some  satisfactory  answer  is 
wrung  from  the  lips  of  scholars  and  statesmen.  Tlie  aid 
which  education  can  give  in  this  emergency  lies  largely 
in  the  direction  of  industrial  and  scientific  training. 
Through  the  ages,  service  has  been  considered  synonymous 
with  slavery,  though  the  world's  workers  are  soon  to  see 
the  dawning  of  a  better  day.  The  mechanic's  cap  and 
blouse  will  not  much  longer  be  looked  upon  as  the  outward 
and  visible  tokens  of  mental  and  social  inferiority,  for 
evolution  is  teaching  respect  for  honest,  Avholesome  human. 


Education  as  a  Factor  in   Civilization.  253 

work.  If  it  be  true  that  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit, 
we  may  well  believe  that  the  leaves  of  this  tree  are  for 
the  healing  of  the  nations  whose  people  are  cast  upon  our 
shores  by  every  breaking  wave  of  the  Atlantic. 

In  every  age  education  has  been  the  outgrowth  of  the 
social  conditions  of  the  time,  and  educational  ideals  are 
always  in  accordance  with  the  beliefs  and  principles  by 
which  nations  are  controlled.  Civilization  is  but  a  contin- 
ual series  of  shifting  conditions  in  need  of  constant  organ- 
ization and  re-adjustment.  It  would  be  strange  if  this  fact 
did  not  impose  upon  us  the  necessity  for  frequent  examina- 
tions of  our  standards  and  re-arrangement  in  our  methods 
of  reaching  them.  But  we  are  not  to  assume  that  the  old 
methods  were  wholly  wrong,  or  that  new  ones  must  neces- 
sarily be  altogether  right.  The  truth  of  Plato  and  of  Paul 
is  no  less  true  than  is  that  of  Darwin  and  of  Spencer.  We 
are  to  prove  all  things,  holding  fast  only  that  which  is  good, 
and  rejecting  even  that  when  clearer  light  or  broader  out- 
look discloses  something  better  still.  Man  is  studying  the 
alphabet  of  science  and  of  ethics,  and  has  not  even  begun 
to  spell  the  first  syllable  of  the  sentences  in  which  here- 
after he  may  write  out  a  little  of  their  glory  and  their 
grandeur.  He  has  exultingly  seized  upon  Jove's  own 
thunderbolts,  a  triumph  which  brings  need  of  yet  further 
knowledge  lest  they  compass  his  own  destruction.  But  to 
the  evolutionist,  though  he  does  not  thereby  justify  himself 
in  any  relaxation  of  individual  influence  or  effort,  no  im- 
patience or  discouragement  is  possible.  He  will  judge  not 
absolutely  but  relatively,  and  be  in  no  danger  of  hurrying 
to  lame  and  impotent  conclusions  from  overlooking  the  pro- 
portions of  things  or  the  relation  of  causes  to  effects ; 
realizing  that  the  present  is  the  outcome  of  the  past  and 
that  the  present  alone  can  make  or  mar  the  future,  he  will 
study  that  past  to  learn  what  plans  and  methods  have  been 
failures,  and  Avhy ;  what  others  have  proved  successful  and 
the  reasons  for  the  success ;  reading  history  not  merely  as 
a  record  of  past  events,  but  as  the  crystallization  of  the 
longings  and  endeavors  of  the  race  for  a  higher  condition, 
and  with  the  profoundest  faith  that  what  man  has  become 
is  but  an  earnest  of  the  better  man  he  is  to  be. 


EVOLUTION  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 
I.  THE  THEOLOGICAL  METHOD. 


BY 


JOHN  W.    CHADWICK 

Author  of  "Evolution  as  Rklated  to  Religious  Thought," 
Faith  of  Reason,"  "Charles  Robert  Dakwin,"  etc. 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "  Principles  of  Sociology"  and  "Study  of  Sociology"; 
Thompson's  "Problem  of  Evil"  and  "The  Religious  Sentiments 
of  the  Human  Mind";  Graham's  "The  Creed  of  Science"  and 
"The  Social  Problem";  Salter's  "Ethical  Eeligion";  Greg's 
"Creeds  of  Christendom";  Mosheim's  "Church  History." 

(256) 


EVOLUTION    AND    SOCIAL    REFORM.^ 


I.     THE    THEOLOGICAL    METHOD. 

The  topic  -which  has  been  assigned  to  me  speaks  volumes 
for  your  appreciation  of  my  standing  in  the  order  of  created 
things.  Why  should  you  think  that  mine  should  be  the 
privilege  of  ushering  in  the  great  millennial  dawn  ?  For 
it  would  surely  be  upon  us,  and  the  remaining  papers  of 
this  series  would  be  read  by  its  transcendent  light,  if  I 
should  treat  successively  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
skeleton  which  in  your  syllabus  of  the  course  is  denom- 
inated ''Evolution  and  Social  Reform:  The  Theological 
Method."  I  shall  "make  no  bones"  of  setting  some  parts 
of  this  skeleton  aside,  and  some  of  the  others  I  shall  con- 
sider with  that  ''leaning  to  the  side  of  mercy"  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  clergy  from  the  laity  in  their  public  utterance : 
naturally,  because  they  so  much  oftener  have  a  chance. 

There  was  social  Form  before  there  was  social  reform, 
and  this  was  almost  entirely  theological  or  religious.  "When 
due  allowance  has  been  made  for  the  over-working  of  a 
fascinating  theory,  M.  Fustel  de  Coulanges's  famous  work, 
"  The  Ancient  City,"  remains  a  splendid  demonstration  of 
the  fact  that  religion  —  theological  religion  —  was  the  orig- 
inal Founder  of  Society,  determining  its  structure  and  its 
laws.  Hence  came,  as  from  no  other  source,  that  "cake  of 
custom,"  that  definition,  that  authority  of  social  forms, 
which  was  as  absolutely  essential  to  the  beginnings  of 
society  as  its  ultimate  breaking  up  was  to  its  progress 
further  on.  An  egg-shell  is  an  excellent  protection  of  the 
bird's  incipient  life,  but  broken  it  must  be  some  day  or  else 
we  have  no  bird.  The  religion  of  the  hearth,  the  worship 
of  ancestors,  constituted  the  primitive  family,  established 
marriage  and  paternal  authority,  fixed  the  order  of  relation- 
ship, consecrated  the  right  of  property  and  the  right  of  in- 
heritance. The  same  religion,  having  formed  the  family, 
re-formed  it,  enlarged  it,  and  extended  it,  often  artificially 
enough.     The   legal    fictions    of   antiquity  were   religious 

*  Copyright,  1890,  l)y  James  H.  West. 


258  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

fictions  in  the  main.  The  developed  and  expanded  religion 
of  the  hearth  became  the  ancient  city  ;  not  urbs,  but  civitas, 
the  ancient  civil  order.  Its  rules,  its  usages,  its  magistra- 
cies, were  all  religious.  The  priests  adjudicated  every 
question;  the  pontiff  was  chief-justice.  Law  was  but  a 
phase  of  religion.  Justice,  as  we  understand  the  term,  was 
unknown.  *'Our  country  right  or  wrong"  was  a  religious 
doctrine  then.  In  treaties,  perfidy,  in  battle,  massacre, 
were  corallaries  of  this  expanded  family  religion.  In 
those  good  old  times  Socialism  was  the  order  of  the  day. 
Liberty  had  no  existence ;  education  was  compulsory.  No 
man  was  permitted  to  live  single  or  to  rear  a  child  that  was 
weak  or  deformed.  Food  and  clothing  were  prescribed. 
This  "  cake  of  custom,"  this  family  religion  artificially  ex- 
tended to  a  religious  city,  a  religious  state,  thickened  and 
hardened  so  that  the  wonder  is  that  it  was  ever  broken ;  but 
it  was  —  about  2500  years  ago.  The  priests  were  obliged 
to  siirrender  their  absolute  authority,  and  rule  only  in 
worship,  but  the  survivals  of  their  original  authority  long 
lingered  here  and  there  in  civic  law  and  use.  Solon 
"wrested  the  earth  from  religion  and  gave  it  to  labor,"  in 
Coulanges's  happy  phrase.  Aristotle  says  he  put  an  end  to 
the  slavery  of  the  people.  As  in  mediaeval  Europe  a 
baronial  aristocracy  succeeded  the  disintegration  of  the 
Empire,  so  was  it  here  ;  and  as  there  the  people  made  a  set 
of  royal  tyrants  the  instruments  of  their  battle  with  this 
aristocracy,  so  also  was  it  here.  Meantime,  the  arts  sprang 
up;  socialism  retired;  personal  property  was  created; 
money  appeared.  Over  this,  religion  had  no  power.  Now 
plebeians  could  be  rich,  and,  once  rich,  could  be  aristocrats, 
and  so  the  old  lines  of 'demarcation  were  more  and  more 
effaced.  They  invaded  politics.  They  invaded  the  sacra- 
mental worship.  They  became  consuls,  priests.  Rome, 
become  democratic,  became  first  republican  and  then  im- 
perial. It  was  the  people  who  made  the  new  tyrant,  as 
they  had  made  the  old.  The  same  tendency  is  observable 
in  our  modern  life.  Only  the  new  tyrant,  hankered  for,  is 
called  Socialism.  A  Tyranny  without  a  tyrant,  shall  we 
say  ?  ]iut  no  less  tyrannous  on  this  account,  and  the  per- 
sonal tyrant  would  come  very  soon  to  tame  the  chaos  that 
would  certainly  ensue,  as  Napoleon  came  to  tame  the  chaos 
after  the  Avild  and  whirling  aspirations  of  the  French  Rev- 
olution. 


The  Theological  Method.  259 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  relation  of  Religion  to  Society, 
in  its  primeval  and  pre-Christian  form,  was  mixed  of  various 
yarn,  good  and  ill  together.  The  "cake  of  custom"  which 
it  furnished  was  a  necessity  of  the  social  situation.  That 
or  no  society  at  all.  But  it  paid  dear  for  its  whistle.  It 
was  miserably  artificial  while  it  held  its  own.  It  entailed 
a  miserable  inheritance  of  legal  and  moral  fictions  on  the 
emancipated  Greek  and  Roman  world.  That  History  never 
repeats  itself  is  a  proverbial  phrase.  It  is  as  true  as  our 
proverbial  wisdom  generally  is,  and  that  is  something  less 
than  half.  History  never  repeats  itself  exactly.  It  is 
always  repeating  itself  in  a  large  and  general  way.  The 
immense  disintegration  which  succeeded  the  downfall  of 
the  Roman  Empire  through  its  inherent  weakness  and  the 
onset  of  the  Barbarians  was  not  unlike  tlie  original  social 
chaos.  It  needed  quite  as  much  a  formative  principle ; 
quite  as  much  a  new  cake  of  custom.  Christianity,  ecclesi- 
astical Christianity,  responded  to  the  reed.  It  was  the 
savior  of  society.  For  centuries  its  splendid  domination 
secured  a  social  order  hardly  if  any  less  religious  than  the 
society  and  State  determined  by  the  family  religion  of  the 
ancient  world.  For  every  part  of  life,  domestic,  personal, 
industrial,  political,  intellectual,  aesthetic,  there  Avas  a  re- 
ligious rule.  The  rule  was  often  monstrous  and  absurd. 
No  matter ;  all  the  same  it  held  the  fort  till  reinforcements 
could  come  up,  the  intellectual  and  political  forces  of  the 
modern  world.  And  as  under  the  old  regime  there  was  a 
miserable  inheritance  from  the  Religion  of  the  Hearth,  so 
have  we  had  a  miserable  inheritance  from  the  Christianity 
which  saved  society  in  the  Middle  Ages,  an  inheritance  of 
theological  morality  —  a  morality  looking  not  to  human 
benefit  but  to  the  imagined  will  or  preference  of  God  for 
the  sanctions  of  the  moral  life.  Theological  morality  in 
its  palmiest  days  endeavored,  and  for  the  most  part  success- 
fully, to  elevate  the  importance  of  performing  certain 
ceremonies  and  of  believing  certain  doctrines  into  superi- 
ority to  any  actions  between  man  and  man.  But  human 
nature  is  so  constituted  that,  although  men  may  easily 
persuade  themselves  that  intellectual  error,  or  sacramental 
irregularity,  is  the  most  damnable  of  crimes,  "the  voice  of 
conscience  protests  so  strongly  against  this  doctrine  that 
it  can  only  be  silenced  by  the  persuasion  that  the  jiersonal 
character  of  the  heretic  (or  delinquent)  is  as  repulsive  as 


260  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

his  creed."  "Calumny,"  says  Lecky,  "is  the  homage 
which  dogmatism  has  ever  paid  to  conscience.  Even  in  the 
periods  Avhen  the  guilt  of  heresy  was  universally  believed, 
the  spirit  of  intolerance  was  only  sustained  by  the  diffusion 
of  countless  libels  against  the  misbeliever,  and  by  conceal- 
ment of  his  virtues."  The  heretical  or  sacramentally  de- 
linquent dog  must  have  a  bad  name  fastened  on  him  before 
he  could  be  hung  or  burned  or  drawn  and  quartered  with 
an  entirely  satisfied  and  quiet  mind. 

But  the  dis-service  done  by  theological  morality  has  not 
been  by  any  means  exhausted  by  its  attendant  persecutions. 
These  have  somehow  been  the  nursing-mothers  of  political 
independence  and  industrial  success.  The  blood  of  the 
martyrs  has  not  been  so  obviously  the  seed  of  the  church 
as  it  has  been  the  seed  of  enterprise  and  wealth  in  soil  that 
she  has  drenched  with  blood.  Witness  to  this  the  fortunes 
of  the  Jews  ;  of  the  Dutch  who,  having  taken  Holland  from 
the  sea,  took  her  again  from  Philip's  more  rapacious  clutch ; 
of  the  Huguenots  who  in  the  crypt  of  Canterbury  Cathe- 
dral, where  their  descendants  still  have  the  right  of 
worship,  set  up  their  looms  and  made  a  brave  beginning  of 
England's  wonderful  and  magnificent  industrial  life.  No, 
the  grand  dis-service  of  the  theological  method  in  morality 
has  been  the  absorption  in  the  imaginary  service  of  God  of 
energies  that  would  have  planted  the  standard  of  humanity 
some  furlongs  further  into  chaos.  The  survival  still 
survives,  but  in  our  day  is  less  a  good  deal  than  archangel 
ruined  with  the  excess  of  glory  obscured. 

One  item  of  the  schedule  of  particular  things  assigned 
to  me  for  measurement  and  weight  is  "  Xineteeu  Hundred 
Years  of  Christianity,"  and  you  are  now  requested  to 
compose  yourselves  to  a  history  of  this  succession.  I 
hasten  to  arrest  the  stampede  which  I  perceive  is  imminent, 
by  assuring  you  that  I  shall  not  take  up  each  separate 
year,  but  give  you  an  abstract  and  brief  chronicle,  and  this 
almost  entirely  with  reference  to  that  aspect  of  society  (the 
industrial  aspect)  to  which  those  who  follow  me  in  this 
course  of  le(;tures  will  confine  themselves.  When  Dr.  F. 
E.  Abbot  suggested,  some  twenty  years  ago,  tliat  Chris- 
tianity is  a  failure,  tlu^  courteous  retort  was  at  once  made 
upon  him,  "It  lias  never  been  tried."  And  this  is  true  if 
by  Christianity  we  are  to  understand  the  social  doctrine  of 
tiie  !New  Testament.     At  least  its  trial,  as  reported  in  the 


The  Theological  Method.  261 

New  Testament,  was  witMn  very  narrow  limits.  Christian 
civilization  has  never  been  a  trial  of  the  New  Testament 
Social  Ideals,  except  here  and  there  in  isolated  and  sporadic 
ways.  The  Quakers  have  tried  non-resistance,  and  the 
moral  of  their  experience  is  that  pictorially  furnished  by 
the  affair  in  Scranton,  when  the  Hicksites  and  the  Ortho- 
dox contended  for  the  possession  of  a  meeting-house.  Not 
a  blow  was  struck,  but  there  was  a  great  deal  of  pushing, 
till,  finally,  the  Orthodox  —  I  must  believe  they  were  the 
more  numerous  party  —  pushed  every  living  Hicksite  out 
of  doors.  Moral  —  in  any  society  where  there  is  no 
striking,  there  Avill  be  a  good  deal  of  pushing.  Monastic 
celibacy  has  made  a  very  extensive  and  protracted  trial  of 
the  "  counsels  of  perfection "  Jesus  gave  in  his  teaching 
upon  marriage,  and  which  Paul  distinctly  reinforced.  With 
neither  of  them  was  marriage  an  ideal  condition.  It  was 
a  concession  to  ungovernable  lust.  Monastic  celibacy  can 
hardly  be  regarded  as  a  success.  There  went  along  with  it 
a  great  deal  of  industrial  help.  But  it  was  essentially 
illogical, —  depending  on  the  disobedient  for  the  materials 
of  its  obedience.  It  said,  "Marriage  peoples  earth,  but 
virginity  peoples  heaven."  But  so  long  as  marriage  or 
illicit  unions  must  furnish  the  raw  material  of  virginity, 
and  the  former  were  accursed,  marriage  was  a  fortunate  ex- 
pedient of  the  average  man.  We  have  the  opinion  of 
Galton  that  monastic  celibacy  drained  off  tlie  finest  brains 
in  Europe  from  the  natural  current  of  its  intellectual  devel- 
opment, so  that  the  average  brain  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
Middle  Ages  was  of  less  capacity  than  in  Anoient  Greece. 
Moreover,  even  if  the  monks  and  nuns  had  kept  their 
foolish  and  unnatural  vows  it  would  have  been  at  the  ex- 
pense of  a  pruriency  of  persistent  thought  more  intolerable, 
says  Renan,  than  the  vices  of  the  world. 

But  what  is  the  relation  of  the  Bible,  and  especially  of 
the  NcAv  Testament  and  nascent  Christianity,  to  that  Social 
problem  Avhich  is  ^^a?*  excellence  the  Social  problem  of  the 
present  time  —  the  problem  of  Poverty  and  AVealth  ?  To 
what  extent  has  the  New  Testament  industrial  Christianity 
been  tried,  and  to  what  extent  has  it  succeeded,  if  it  has 
not  altogether  failed  ? 

Judaism  has  never  been  so  painfully  at  odds  with  its 
avowed  ideals  as  Christianity.  In  seeking  wealth  the  Jew 
has  always  had  the  warrant  of  his  Bible,  clear  and  strong. 


262  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

For  the  Old  Testament  doctrine  of  wealth  is  frank  and  un- 
mistakable. It  is  a  blessing  from  the  Lord.  It  is  a  sign 
of  the  divine  approval  —  one  of  three  signs  that  are  con- 
tinually recurring.  The  other  two  are  long  life  and  many 
children.  The  Book  of  Job  is  the  only  serious  protest  in 
the  Old  Testament  against  the  doctrine  that  riches  are  the 
reward  of  righteousness,  and  even  this,  before  it  ends,  seems 
to  decide  for  Job's  accusers  and  against  Job  himself.  You 
will  remember  that  in  the  end  he  had  again  seven  sons  and 
three  daughters  in  the  place  of  those  whom  he  had  lost,  and 
twice  as  many  sheep,  oxen,  camels  and  she-asses  as  he  had 
before.  We  seek  vainly  for  his  wife  in  this  enumeration  ; 
—  unless  —  but  the  suggestion  is  unworthy,  and  I  pass  it  by. 
Nothing  is  more  convincing  of  the  gulf  dividing  the  Old 
Testament  and  New  than  the  difference  of  their  views  con- 
cerning poverty  and  wealth.  In  the  Old  Testament  the 
rich,  and  in  the  New  Testament  the  poor,  are  approved  of 
heaven,  and  known  to  be  so  by  this  sign.  Nothing  is  surer 
than  that,  as  between  the  rich  and  poor  of  his  own  time, 
Jesus  was  clearly  for  the  poor.  His  gospel  was  for  them. 
The  key-note  is  sounded  in  the  story  of  his  first  preaching 
in  the  synagogue  of  his  native  Nazareth  : 

"  The  Spirit  of  the  Loi'd  is  upon  me, 
Because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preacli  the  Gospel  to  the  poor"; 

and  in  the  beatitudes  in  Luke,  "  Blessed  are  the  poor,"  he 
cries  ;  and  conversely,  "Go  to,  ye  rich  men,  weep  and  howl, 
for  you  have  received  your  consolation."  To  the  young 
man  asking  J'esus  what  he  shall  do  to  inherit  eternal  life, 
Jesus  makes  answer  that  he  must  sell  all  he  has  and  give 
the  proceeds  to  the  poor.  And  it  is  evident  that  these 
precepts  and  examples  did  not  vanish  into  the  thin  air  and 
bring  forth  no  result.  Tolstoi,  in  his  account  of  his  relig- 
ion, whicli  he  identities  with  that  of  Jesus,  takes  what  he 
likes,  and  leaves  what  he  does  not,  with  a  recklessness  that 
w(mld  make  an  ordinary  Christian  ccmnnentator  blush. 
Theuon-resistance  ])recepts  he  accepts  without  qualification. 
"Judge  not,"  he  interprets  literally  and  legally.  Krgo,  we 
are  to  have  no  courts,  no  trials,  no  punishments  of  crime. 
But  though,  in  such  a  society  as  he  imagines,  life  would 
surely  not  be  worth  living,  a  paradise  of  ignorance  and 
dirt.- — education  sp])arates  men,  therefore  no  education; 
cleanliness  separates,  therefore  blessed  are  the  unwashed, — 


The  Theological  Method.  263 

yet,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  the  sole  function  of  woman 
in  this  kingdom  of  hell  is  to  multiply  and  replenish  the 
earth.  Why  did  not  Tolstoi  avail  himself  of  the  "counsels 
of  perfection "  which  Jesus  uttered  against  marriage  ? 
Why,  but  because  it  is  inevitable  that,  when  the  Bible  is 
made  an  authority,  it  is  like  the  Morman  prophet's  compass, 
which,  when  he  had  taken  it  in  his  hand,  it  did  turn  which- 
ever way  he  would.  Tolstoi  is  as  strenuous  for  Avork  as  for 
the  multiplication  of  children,  though  it  is  evident  that 
Jesus  and  his  immediate  disciples  gave  up  all  work  and 
made  a  common  purse.  ''And  Judas  had  the  bag" — a 
phrase  significant  of  much.  He  sold  the  Master's  life  for 
thirty  pieces  of  silver.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  every  com- 
munistic enterprise  will  have  its  Judas  soon  or  late,  who,  if 
he  does  not  steal  the  bag,  will  engage  in  private  speculation. 
Our  first  acquaintance  with  the  early  Christians  after  the 
death  of  Jesus  finds  them  a  socialistic  body,  having  "all 
things  in  common," — but  voluntarily,  Peter  reminding 
Ananias,  who  kept  back  part  of  the  price,  that  he  might 
have  kept  his  money  or  that  which  he  sold. 

If,  then,  by  Christianity,  Ave  mean  the  precept  and  ex- 
ample of  the  New  Testament,  it  is  evident  that  Christianity 
makes  for  socialism  in  its  crudest  form;  for  communism, 
with  which  we  must  not  by  any  means  confound  the  State- 
Socialism  of  Marx  and  Bellamy  and  Hyndman.  But,  then, 
it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  on  the  entire  social  and  in- 
dustrial ideal  of  early  Christianity,  Paul  and  Jesus  himself 
included,  there  was  the  bias  of  a  firm  persuasion  that  the 
mundane  order  of  society  was  very  shortly  to  be  broken 
up.  That  made  a  mighty  difference.  In  1843,  if  I  re- 
member rightly  the  year  of  the  great  Millerite  excitement, 
a  Unitarian  minister,  from  whom  I  had  the  story,  stepped 
into  a  Philadelphia  hatter's  store  to  buy  a  hat.  Having 
selected  one,  he  asked,  "How  much  ?"  "Nothing,"  replied 
tlie  hatter ;  and  explained  that  he  was  a  Millerite,  and  that 
the  world  was  coming  to  an  end  the  following  day.  Money 
was  nothing  to  him,  therefore.  He  had  more  than  enough 
for  the  day.  "Then,"  said  the  minister,  "will  you  not 
give  me  ten  dollars?"  "Certainly,"  replied  the  man, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word.  The  next  day  but  one  my 
friend  stepped  in  again,  the  world  not  having  come  to  an 
end  in  the  meantime,  and  paid  for  his  hat  and  returned  the 
ten   dollars,    neviine   contradicente.     The    moral   is   plain. 


264  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

An  order  of  society  which  is  unobjectionable  and  even  ad- 
mirable for  a  world  hastening  to  destruction,  must  look 
quite  different  seen  from  the  standpoint  of  a  world  which 
has  the  promise  of  indefinite  duration.  It  is  a  vice  of 
criticism  old  and  new  that  no  sufficient  allowance  is  made 
for  the  bias  of  the  expectation,  cherished  equally  by  Jesus 
and  his  disciples,  of  a  catastrophic  ending  of  the  mundane 
order  of  their  time,  and  the  establishment  in  its  place  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  upon  earth.  What  Jesus  and  Paul 
might  have  thought  of  industry  and  property  and  marriage 
and  government  and  slavery,  and  such  things  generally,  if 
they  had  imagined  such  continuance  of  the  old  order  as 
was  actually  unrolled,  we  do  not  know.  But,  knowing  that 
their  every  social  opinion  was  subject  to  the  bias  of  their 
hope,  Ave  must  neither  hold  them  absolutely  responsible  for 
their  opinions,  nor  go  to  them  as  if  it  were  likely  we  should 
find  in  them  a  social  rule  agreeable  to  the  continuous  and 
stable  order  of  the  world. 

The  New  Testament  had  not  reached  its  final  term, 
before,  in  Second  Peter,  written  about  170  of  our  era,  we 
hear  a  wail  of  disappointment  and  regret :  "  Where  is  the 
promise  of  his  coming  ?  For  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep 
all  things  remain  as  they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world."  Long  before  that  there  was  doubtless  many  a 
doubter,  and  many  an  Ananias  who  kept  back  part,  and 
then  the  Avhole,  of  his  estate  from  the  common  stock  and 
store.  It  does  not  even  appear  that  the  Christian  Commune 
ever  got  any  hold  outside  Jerusalem.  Paul  was  obliged  to 
take  the  Corinthian  Christians  in  hand  for  not  sharing  even 
the  bread  and  wine  of  the  communion-feast,  some  eating 
and  drinking  what  they  took  with  them  and  others  getting 
nothing.  Nevertheless,  it  was  not  a  little  that  passed  over 
from  the  Christianity  of  Jesus  and  his  first  disciples  into 
the  early  and  the  later  Christian  church.  The  words  of 
Paul  and  Jesus  about  marriage  died,  as  rules  of  general 
api)licatioii,  to  rise  again  as  "counsels  of  perfection,"  cel- 
ibacy for  those  who  could  endure  the  strain ;  and  hence, 
with  many  things  co-operant  to  the  end,  the  immense  de- 
velopment of  anchoritic  and  monastic  life.  And  it  was  the 
monastic  orders  that  perpetuated  the  ideal,  if  not  the 
practice,  of  poverty  in  the  Christian  church.  Even  before 
the  conversion  of  the  lloman  empire  the  church,  as  an 
ecclesiastical  institution,  began  to  grow  rich,  and  it  grew 


The  Theological  Method.  265 

enormously  so  as  time  went  on.  Sinners  and  saints,  de- 
parting from  this  life,  emptied  their  private  fortunes  into 
its  bursting  coffers,  either  in  the  hope  of  bettering  their 
chance  of  heaven  or  in  supreme  assurance  of  its  bliss. 
The  secular  clergy  growing  sleek  and  comfortable,  the  reg- 
ular clergy,  that  is  to  say  the  monks,  took  up  the  role  of 
poverty.  These  also  soon  attained  to  wealth,  but  in  their 
corporate  capacity ;  and  for  a  monk  to  crave  the  joy  of 
private  ownership  was  the  most  heinous  sin.  If  ever  So- 
cialism has  a  patron-saint  it  should  be  Gregory  the  Great. 
He  was  abbot  of  a  Benedictine  Monastery  before  he  was 
made  pope,  and,  falling  sick,  a  monk  named  Justus  saved 
hfs  life  by  his  unwearying  care.  Soon  after,  Justus  falling 
sick  and  being  near  to  death,  confessed  that  he  had  three 
pieces  of  gold  concealed  in  a  flask  of  medicine.  At  once 
command  was  given,  and  by  Gregory  himself,  that  no  one 
should  approach  the  bedside  of  the  dying  man  to  speak 
a  word  of  hope  or  consolation.  And  no  sooner  was  he  dead 
than  his  body  was  cast  upon  the  dung-hill  with  his  three 
pieces  of  gold,  the  whole  brotherhood  shouting  with  one 
voice,  "  Thy  money  perish  with  thee  ! "  Here,  at  any  rate, 
was  Socialism  that  had  the  courage  of  its  convictions.  But 
private  poverty  immersed  in  corporate  Avealth  was  seen  to 
be  only  a  half-way  poverty ;  and  out  of  this  perception 
grew  the  mendicant  orders,  taking  the  vow  of  poverty  not 
for  themselves  only,  but  for  the  order  also  ;  a  scheme  which 
prospered  for  a  time,  and  then  the  mendicants  grew  rich 
and  rich  and  richer,  till,  like  the  Roman  augurs,  they  could 
not  meet  in  private  without  laughing  in  each  other's  faces 
at  the  joke.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  French  Eevolution,  one-fifth  of  all  the  land  in 
France  Avas  in  the  church's  hands.  Of  other  wealth  it  had 
a  larger  share. 

The  monastic  ideal  of  poverty,  in  which  the  Xew  Testa- 
ment ideal  survived,  was  far  from  being  hostile  to  the  gen- 
eral pursuit  of  wealth  in  the  community.  It  was  a  "counsel 
of  perfection,"  a  rule  confessedly  too  high  for  general 
attainment,  and  so  it  gave  carte  blanche  to  all  who  did  not 
adopt  it  to  put  money  in  their  purses  and  add  field  to  field 
without  reproach  or  shame.  It  is  evident  that  mendicancy 
implied  having  and  giving,  just  as  the  virginity  tliat 
peopled  heaven  implied  the  marriage  that  peopled  earth. 
There  were  never  more  rich  men  than  the  church  found  for 


266  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

her  purpose,  frying  out  their  fat  with  an  ingenious  success 
that  must  be  ever  the  despair  of  political  committees  raising 
money  for  campaign  expenses  in  these  degenerate  days. 
But  whether  it  was  that  the  impossible  ideal  did  shame  the 
common  mind,  or  that  this  could  not  compete  with  the  pro- 
tected interests  of  the  church,  certain  it  is  that  those  parts 
of  Europe  which  have  been  pre-eminently  distinguished  for 
manufacturing  and  commercial  activity  and  the  increase  of 
secular  wealth  have  been  almost  without  exception  hostile 
to  the  pretensions  of  the  Mother  Church,  and,  in  many  in- 
stances, heretics  and  schismatics.  This  is  in  part  explained 
as  we  explain  the  fortunes  of  the  Jew  in  Christendom. 
His  disabilities  have  been  the  nurses  of  his  power.  A 
hunted  creed,  if  it  be  not  extirpated,  has  an  invariable  ten- 
dency to  make  its  votaries  "  reserved,  concentrated  in  their 
callings,  vigilant  in  action  and  in  the  end  wealthy."  Witness 
the  fifteenth  century  of  English  history,  the  most  prosper- 
ous in  her  annals,  until,  in  our  own  time,  free-trade  and 
trades-unions  and  the  shortening  of  the  hours  of  labor  have 
conspired  in  the  production  of  an  unparalleled  prosperity. 
And  the  energetic,  the  enterprising,  the  wealthy,  were  those 
Lollards  that  had  sprung  from  Wiclif's  seed.  Witness  the 
Huguenots  in  France,  from  whom  the  industrialism  of 
modern  England  rightly  dates.  Witness  the  Dutch  and 
Flemings,  the  Puritans  and  Quakers.  The  facts  incline  us 
to  accept  the  Old  Testament  interpretation  that  riches  are 
the  natural  reward  of  righteousness.  Of  course  the  ex- 
ceptions are  many,  but  in  the  long  run  and  the  wide  sweep 
the  gravitation  of  wealth  has  been  to  character,  to  men  of 
self-denying  virtue,  to  men  who  have  sought  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness. 

However  this  may  be,  the  general  fact  is  indisputable 
that  Cliristianity,  which  was  the  religion  of  poverty,  both 
ideally  and  actually  in  its  early  stages,  is  in  the  nineteenth 
century  pre-eminently  the  religion  of  wealth.  The  only 
possible  exception  to  this  statement  is  suggested  by  the 
financial  successes  of  the  Jews.  But  these  have  been  so 
generally  the  successes  of  Christian  Jews  —  i.  e.,  of  Jews 
mixed  up  Avith  Christians  in  financial  matters- — that  it  does 
not  affect  the  general  consideration.  The  wealth  of  the 
Avorld  to-day  is  very  largely  heaped  up  within  ('hristiaii 
boundaries,  and  wlierever  Christianity  goes,  there  wealth 
accumulates  and,  for  the  most  part,  men  do  not  decay.     ]'>ut 


The  Theological  Method.  267 

the  main  increase  has  been  in  the  most  recent  times,  the 
application  of  machinery  to  labor  and  of  steam-power  to 
machinery,  the  principal  factors  in  the  increase,  a  comment 
on  the  threadbare  fallacy  tliat  "all  wealth  is  the  product  of 
labor"  that  cannot  be  too  carefully  observed.  There  is 
significance  in  the  fact  that  the  growth  of  industry  and 
wealth  has  been  most  remarkable  in  quarters  least  subject 
to  the  control  or  influence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
in  quarters  where  the  Protestant  virtues,  as  Cardinal 
NeAvman  calls  them, —  personal  independence  and  self- 
respect, —  have  had  the  fullest  swing.  The  industrialism 
and  wealth  of  modern  life  have  flourished  not  merely  in 
contempt  of  the  original  church,  but  in  part  because  (no 
thanks  to  her)  of  her  fatuous  opposition.  The  immense 
development  of  mechanical  skill  is  eldest  daughter  of  that 
scientific  spirit  with  which  the  Mother  Church  had  no  com- 
munity. It  has  come  of  an  insatiable  curiosity  for  which 
she  has  had  no  favorable  word  or  smile.  The  uttermost 
dis-service  done  by  that  Church  to  industry  and  wealth  and 
labor  and  the  general  social  stains  of  mankind  was  through 
her  monstrous  opposition  to  its  intellectual  life.  Had  not 
the  Jew  and  the  Mohammedan  kept  the  flame  of  intellect- 
ual life  in  Europe  it  seems  as  if  it  must  have  gone  out  in 
smoke  and  stench  forever.  The  Christian  branch  of  the 
Semitic  stock  was  without  flower  or  fruit  when  the  Moham- 
medan and  Jewish  branches  of  the  same  stock  were  all 
abloom  with  promise  or  loaded  doAvn  with  intellectual  fruit. 
"Persecution,"  says  Lecky,  "came  to  the  Jewish  nation  in 
its  most  horrible  forms,  .  .  .  but  above  all  this  the  grandeur 
of  that  wonderful  people  rose  supreme.  While  those 
around  were  groveling  in  the  darkness  of  besotted  igno- 
rance ;  while  juggling  miracles  and  lying  relics  were  the 
themes  on  which  almost  all  Europe  was  expatiating ;  while 
the  intellect  of  Europe,  enthralled  by  countless  supersti- 
tions, had  sunk  into  a  deadly  torpor  in  which  all  love  of 
inquiry  and  all  search  for  truth  were  abandoned,  the  Jews 
were  still  pursuing  the  path  of  knowledge,  amassing  learn- 
ing, and  stimulating  progress  with  the  same  unflinching 
confidence  they  manifested  in  their  faith.  They  were  the 
most  skilful  physicians,  the  ablest  financiers,  and  among 
the  most  profound  philosophers ;  Avhile  they  were  second 
only  to  the  Moors  in  natural  science,"  freely  aj)propriating 
their  results  and  giving  them  such  currency  as  tht^y  could 


268  JEvolution  and  Social  Reform,: 

in  Western  Europe.  It  was  Jewish  wealth  that  broke  the 
arm  of  Christian  persecution.  Not  till  the  Jew's  money 
was  absolutely  indispensable  to  Kings  and  popes,  for  the 
prosecution  of  their  crusades  and  wars,  did  the  stress  of 
persecution  cease. 

The  system  of  credit  and  exchange  which  is  inseparable 
from  the  industrialism  of  the  modern  world  was  developed 
by  the  Jews,  if  the  letter  of  exchange  was  not  of  their 
device.  They  were  the  first  to  make  a  liberal  use  of  this 
device.  We  are  tluis  brought  face  to  face  Avith  tlie  matters 
of  interest  and  usury.  The  social  reformer  whose  panacea 
for  all  the  ills  which  modern  industrialism  is  heir  to  or  has 
originally  developed  is  the  prohibition  of  interest,  has  the 
Bible,  Old  and  New  Testament,  at  his  back,  and  equally  the 
unanimous  authority  of  the  Christian  church  for  seventeen 
centuries.  The  last  authoritative  utterance  of  the  church 
was  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  it  was  as  hostile  to  usury 
or  interest  as  any  previous  utterance.  I  say  "to  usxiry  or 
interest,"  for  it  is  only  the  finesse  of  modern  Christianity 
that  has  made  out  any  difference  between  the  two.  Usury 
in  the  Bible  means  just  interest,  no  more,  or  less  ;  and  usury 
meant  interest  all  down  the  Christian  centuries  till  some 
three  centuries  since.  Three  per  cent,  was  as  much  usury 
as  ten,  and  equally  disallowed.  But  in  spite  of  papal  in- 
terdicts the  giving  and  receiving  of  interest,  called  usury, 
went  on,  and  at  length  all  cliurchly  opposition  ceased.  The 
church  hardly  attained  unto  tlie  wisdom  of  the  school- 
mistress, who  said  to  the  refractory  boy,  wlio  would  not 
budge,  "Then  stay  Avhere  you  are,  for  I  will  be  minded." 
But  it  concluded  to  let  the  refractory  usurers  stay  Avhere 
they  were,  and  say  no  more.  Protestantism  was  much 
ahead  of  Eomanism  in  its  abandonment  of  the  futile  oi)po- 
sition.  Jolui  Calvin  had  some  good  horse  sense  with  all 
his  theological  barbarities.  He  was  a  paternalist  in  Geneva, 
if  there  ever  was  one,  but  he  refused  to  prohibit  interest 
by  law.  lie  was  mucli  less  slavisli  in  his  bibliolatry  than 
many  who  succeeded  him.  Moreover,  he  was  one  of  tlie 
very  first  to  expose  the  absurdity  of  Aristotle  that  "money 
is  sterile."  Tlie  attitude  of  the  church  in  this  regard  will 
be  differently  api)reciated  according  as  one  believes  all  in- 
terest-taking to  be  wrong,  or  believes  its  giving  and  taking 
to  be  the  ha])i)iest  device  of  industry  and  commerce  in  the 
modern  world.     I  am  myself  decidedly  of  the  last  opinion. 


The  Theological  Method.  269 

The  principal  operation  of  the  Theological  and  Ecclesi- 
astical method  is  not,  however,  to  be  sought  in  the  appli- 
cation of  specific  precepts  and  examples  of  the  Scriptures 
to  the  social  world,  but  in  the  diffusion  of  a  spirit  of  com- 
passion and  good-will  and  brotherhood.  Nothing  was  more 
fundamental  than  the  institution  of  slavery  to  the  social 
structure  of  the  pagan  world.  Nothing  is  more  creditable 
to  Christianity  of  the  first  and  middle  period  than  its  oppo- 
sition to  this  institution,  an  opposition  by  which  it  was 
ultimately  destroyed.  I  know  the  gibe  that  it  was  Chris- 
tians who  could  not  be  slaves  in  Christian  eyes,  not  men. 
It  somewhat  dims  the  splendor  of  the  church's  work  in  this 
direction.  But  all  were  welcome  to  the  church,  and  its 
recruits  were  largely  if  not  mainly  from  the  servile  class. 
So,  with  its  anti-slavery,  there  went  along  a  social  democracy 
which  has  always  been  the  glory  of  the  Mother  Church — 
not  allied  with  political  Democracy,  because  to  this  the 
church's  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  is  a  fatal  blow.  Of 
social  equality  and  fraternity  the  old  church  was  a  much 
better  conservator  than  the  reformed.  It  is  so  to  this  day. 
It  is  Protestantism  that  has  rich  men's  churches,  to  which 
poor  men  cannot  come.  How  good  it  is  in  every  Catholic 
church  in  Europe  to  find  rich  and  poor  upon  an  equal  foot- 
ing,—  it  is  generally  footing  and  not  sitting, — the  fine  lady 
and  the  peasant,  the  merchant  and  the  artisan  at  elbow- 
touch  !  What  a  monstrous  thing  that  in  democratic  Amer- 
ica Catholicism  contracts  the  aristocratic  taint  of  pew-owning 
and  renting,  though  happily  as  yet  the  poor  have  not  been 
cTriven  out  into  unlovely  chapels  or  the  unlovelier  streets. 

Another  splendid  service  of  early  Christianity  to  the 
industrial  world  was  in  its  enhancement  of  the  dignity  of 
labor.  It  was  a  piece  of  happy  fortune  that  Paul,  combating 
the  disorder  and  the  idleness  of  a  world  expecting  daily 
Christ's  return,  said,  "He  that  will  not  work  shall  not  eat," 
—  a  copula  Avhich  has  lost  none  of  its  validity  in  the  course 
of  1900  years.  But  it  was  the  Benedictine  monks  who, 
making  labor  a  rule  of  their  order  yet  not  a  counsel  of  per- 
fection, gave  an  immense  enhancement  to  the  dignity  of 
labor  in  men's  eyes.  Nor  would  it  be  easy  to  exaggerate 
the  labors  of  the  monks  as  pioneers  of  civilization,  tamers 
of  the  wilderness,  founders  of  universities  and  towns,  and 
as  exemplars  to  the  general  world  of  sturdy  industry. 

You  must  not  think  that  I  have  wilfully  omitted  Ameri- 
can slavery  from  my  consideratipn.  Strange  as  it  may  seem. 
Las  Casas,  one  jof  the  most  benevolent  of  Spanish  Catholics, 


270  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

was  the  most  conspicuous  inaugurator  of  slavery  in  tlie  new- 
world.  It  must  be  confessed  that  the  Christianity  which 
supported  slavery  in  the  United  States  was  much  inferior 
to  that  which  weakened  and  destroyed  it  in  the  early  church, 
and,  notwithstanding  frightful  instances  of  cruelty  in  ancient 
slavery,  our  own  of  yesterday  was  much  more  debasing. 
But  though  the  American  churches  were^  as  James  G.  Birney 
said,  the  bulwark  of  slavery,  the  bulwark  was  one  from  be- 
hind which  the  Anti-Slavery  party  drew  its  noblest  strength, 
from  Garrison  and  Whittier  and  Green  and  May  and  Chan- 
ning  and  Parker,  down  to  the  humblest  of  the  rank  and  file. 
The  bible  strength  of  the  Pro-Slavery  party  was  an  Old- 
Testament  custom ;  the  bible  strength  of  the  Anti-Slavery 
party  was  the  spirit  of  compassion  and  humanity  which 
warmed  the  heart  of  Jesus  with  a  pure  and  heavenly  flame. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  that  Garrison  was  a  better 
interpreter  of  Christianity  than  Wilbur  Fisk,  finding  an 
argument  for  slavery  in  the  Golden  Rule;  —  for  should  we 
wish  our  neighbor  to  seek  our  liberty  at  the  risk  of  endanger- 
ing the  safety  of  the  Union  and  of  the  Methodist  church  ! 
For  all  the  Wilbur  Fisks,  and  there  were  many,  it  was  the 
Puritan  conscience  of  the  North,  which  the  Bible  and  Chris- 
tianity had  nourished,  that  broke  the  axe  in  the  destroyer's 
hands. 

"The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you,"  Jesus  said, —  a 
prophecy  that  has  had  complete  fulfillment  from  his  time  to 
ours;  but  when  he  added,  "And  whenever  you  Avill  you  can 
do  them  good,"  there  was  a  mocking  echo  from  the  experi- 
ence of  nineteen  Christian  centuries — "Good?"  "Alms- 
giving no  charity,"  wrote  Daniel  Defoe,  almost  the  first  to 
see  that  this  was  so.  And  perhaps  it  was  not  so  in  the 
order  of  society  in  which  Jesus  lived.  Alms-giving  may 
then  have  been  the  only  possible  charity.  It  is  certainly 
the  charity  of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  early  and 
the  later  chxirch  to  our  own  time.  And  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Christiini  charity  which  provoked  the  Em- 
peror Julian  to  stir  up  the  pagan  lieart  to  something  like  it, 
saying,  "It  is  o\itrageous  that  tlie  Christians  should  support 
not  only  their  own  destitute  but  ours," — there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  charity  was  very  sweet  and  beautiful  in 
c()m])arison  with  the  hard  indifference  of  the  pagan  world 
to  suffering  and  misery.  In  the  ages  before  organized  char- 
ity we  nnist  honor  the  spontaneous  charity  of  men.  But  of 
one  thing  we  may  be  sure  :  It  never  yet  diminished  ])Overty. 
Especially  when  the  church  elevated  mendicancy  to  a  virtue, 


The  Theological  Method.  271 

that  and  indiscriminate  charity  brought  forth  a  dreadful 
brood.  It  was  understood  that  poverty  and  mendicancy 
were  necessary  raw  material  for  charity,  and  as  such  they 
were  encouraged.  Without  poverty  and  mendicancy  the 
occupation  of  the  saintly  alms-giver  would  be  gone.  Lat- 
terly it  has  been  borne  in  upon  us  that,  if  charity  is  a  neces- 
sary evil,  it  is  an  evil  that  cannot  be  too  seriously  deplored. 
Does  the  evil  of  intemperance  pauperize  so  miich  ?  But  in 
the  reform  of  charity,  which  began  within  the  memory  of 
my  younger  hearers ;  in  the  battle  with  indiscriminate  alms- 
giving; in  the  endeavor  to  help  those  who  help  them- 
selves, to  organize  friendly  visiting,  to  establish  a  sym- 
pathetic and  humane  relationship  between  the  rich  and  poor, 
it  cannot  be  denied  or  doubted  that  the  church  has  furnished 
a  full  quota  of  the  tireless  laborers.  Nor  can  it  be  denied 
that  it  is  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  the  spirit  of  the  man 
Jesus,  which  is  fundamental  to  their  work.  It  was  Edward 
Denison,  a  young  preacher  in  London's  miserable  East-End, 
who  was  one  of  the  first  to  make  the  startling  affirmation, 
''Charity  is  a  frightful  evil,"  and  who  made  "no  direct  help" 
and  "compulsory  labor  for  all  beggary"  the  sine  qua  nans 
of  charitable  reform.  It  was  John  Richard  Green,  the  great 
historian,  but  then  a  London  vicar,  who  declared  that  six- 
penny photographs  had  done  more  for  the  poor  than  all  the 
charity.  How  so  ?  By  nourishing  the  home  sentiment,  by 
strengthening  the  family  bond.  ]So  Eussian  ikon  so  conse- 
crating as  that  row  of  poor  cartes-de-visite  upon  the  mantel- 
shelf,— the  old  mother's  in  the  country,  the  father's  dead 
and  gone,  the  baby's  over  whom  the  sods  are  green,  the  boys' 
far  off  in  strange  new  lands.  And  it  was  Arnold  Toynbee, 
another  churchman  eager,  bold,  and  strong,  in  whose  honored 
name  Toynbee  Hall  was  established  to  embody  the  idea  of 
personal  human  sympathy  and  fellowship  as  the  highest  and 
the  best  that  can  entice  the  social  helpers  of  our  time.  Sci- 
entific charity  is  not  enough.  I  can  imagine  that  charity 
might  be  so  scientific  that  a  wise  man  would  prefer  the  old 
alms-giving  way.  It  might  pauperize  more,  but  it  Avould 
humanize  more.  What  we  want  is  a  charity  that  shall  be 
Scientific  in  its  method.  Religious  in  its  spirit.  Otherwise 
your  scientific  charity  is  a  locomotive  without  fire  and  water, 
without  steam.  But  most  of  all  we  need  a  vital  human 
sympathy,  such  as  Jesus  felt,  with  every  child  of  God  how-» 
ever  miserable  or  depraved.  I  am  persuaded  that  the  more 
we  know  him  for  what  he  was,  the  more  will  his  sym])athy 
and  his  compassion  be  an  insi)iration  to  our  good  endeavor. 


272  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

and  a  shame  upon  our  shameful  hesitations  and  withdrawals 
in  oiir  contact  Avith  the  ignorant  and  poor  ahd  weak.  And 
if  the  truth  were  known,  the  jjoor  need  not  the  rich  more 
than  the  rich  need  the  poor — to  teach  them  a  neighborly- 
spirit,  to  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  generosity. 

Last,  but  not  least,  I  am  expected — so  do  the  syllabus 
and  Dr.  Janes  inform  me — to  say  something  on  "the  fool- 
ishness of  preaching";  no,  something  about  ])reaching  as  a 
means  of  social  reform.  The  "Theological  Method"  is,  in 
short,  the  method  of  Preaching;  the  method  of  direct  relig- 
ious and  ethical  appeal  to  the  individual.  I  should  not  my- 
self think  of  calling  this  the  Theological  method.  I  should 
prefer  to  call  it  the  Ethical  method  or  the  lieligious.  For 
it  is  evident  that  we  can  have  abundance  of  direct  religious 
or  ethical  appeal  to  the  individual  without  any  theological 
implications.  Felix  Adler  and  William  Salter  have  no  theol- 
ogy to  sjjeak  of,  and  they  would  smile  or  frown  to  hear  thSir 
method  called  the  Theological  method;  but  of  ethical  and 
religious  a])peal  to  the  individual  there  is  in  them  no  lack. 
There  is  a  theological  method  in  preaching,  and  it  may  or 
may  not  have  persuasive  moral  force  with  men.  If  the  God 
whom  it  presents  to  men's  imagination  is  a  God  of  justice, 
mercy,  truth  and  love  their  contemplation  of  this  image  will 
be  very  apt  to  quicken  in  their  minds  and  hearts  those 
Avonderful  realities.  But  it  is  different  when  the  God  is 
different. 

The  effect  of  preaching  upon  social  life  is  certainly  an 
unknown  quantity.  It  must  be  such  from  the  nature  of  the 
case.  We  cannot  get  at  the  facts.  A  great  deal  of  Chris- 
tian preaching  has  had  for  its  object,  not  the  improve:nent 
of  society,  or  even  of  the  individual,  but  the  salvation  of 
souls,  tlie  imj)rovement  of  men's  chances  for  tlie  heavenly 
world.  And  it  has  endeavored  to  stir  them  u])  to  believe 
certain  incomprehensible  doctrines,  or  to  avail  themselves 
of  certain  sacraments,  as  the  sure  means  of  effecting  their 
eternal  good.  A  great  deal  of  this  ])reacliing,  logically  en- 
tertained and  carried  out,  would  be  ruinous  to  the  social 
order  and  the  individual  life.  It  is  the  preaching  that  mo- 
rality lias  nothing  to  do  with  salvation ;  that  the  blood  of 
Jesus  cleansetli  from  all  sin.  "Only  believe"  that  it  is  .so 
and  it  is  so.  Estimated  logically,  the  doctrine  of  the  Atone- 
•ment  is  a  horribly  immoral  doctrine;  nevertheless  its  opera- 
tion has  not  been  habitually  immoral.  But  this  fact  goes 
not  to  the  credit  of  the  doctrine  but  to  the  credit  of  human- 
itv,  which  is  infinitely  better  than  the  creeds.     Men  have 


The  Theological  Method.  273 

not  seen  the  doctrine ;  they  have  seen  a  good  man  suffering 
for  humanity,  a  good  man  laying  down  his  life  for  his 
friends,  and  that  has  touched  their  hearts  to  finer  issues. 

But  with  all  the  theological  preaching,  all  the  preaching 
of  total  depravity  and  eternal  hell  and  the  atonement  and 
the  trinity  and  election  and  predestination,  and  so  on,  there 
has  been  a  great  deal  of  moral  and  religious  preaching. 
Some  of  the  most  theological  preachers  have  been  sternly 
ethical.  Calvin,  for  instance,  did  in  no  wise  waste  himself 
entirely  in  theological  speoiilations.  He  attempted  to  regu- 
late the  social  life  of  Geneva  down  to  the  last  particular. 
People  should  even  go  home  and  go  to  bed  at  such  a  time. 
A  great  many  preachers  have  been  social  reformers.  Theo- 
dore Parker  preached  a  sermon  on  the  dvities  of  milkmen, 
and  Archbishop  Tillotson  preached  one  on  the  duty  of 
mothers  to  suckle  their  own  children.  All  the  ages  down, 
there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  ethical  preaching  with  the 
theological.  The  theological  has  made  the  more  noise.  It 
has  oftener  got  into  books.  But  it  has  not  done  anything 
like  so  much  good  as  the  other.  That  has  often  fallen  into 
good  ground  and  sprung  up  and  borne  fruit  thirty,  sixty  and 
a  hundred  fold. 

The  idea  of  conversion  has  been  very  prominent  in  the 
Christian  world.  Without  a  conscious  conversion  many 
have  insisted  that  no  one  can  have  any  hope  of  everlasting 
happiness  or  be  a  Christian  here.  Now,  that  preaching  has 
effected  a  great  many  very  real  conversions  I  am  not  in  the 
least  inclined  to  doubt.  It  has  converted  the  drtuikard  and 
the  licentious  from  their  evil  ways.  It  has  persuaded  those 
Avho  have  stolen  to  steal  no  more.  It  has  sent  men  and 
women  home  to  be  better  husbands  and  wives ;  more  kind, 
more  tender,  more  thoughtful,  more  forgiving.  But  I  do 
not  believe  that  the  best  effect  of  preaching  has  been  by  its 
conversions  —  sharp  turnings-round  of  men  from  bad  ways 
to  good.  I  believe  that  its  best  effect  has  been  to  bathe 
men  in  an  atmosphere  of  holiness,  to  induce  in  them  a  habit 
of  noble  expectation  with  themselves,  to  keep  them  in  the 
constant  presence  of  beautiful  and  exigent  ideals,  and  most 
of  all  in  the  presence  of  that  ideal  of  tenderness  and  com- 
passion and  sincerity  which  was  embodied  in  the  life  of 
Jesus  of  jSTazaretli,  the  carpenter's  son. 

The  Keligious  method  of  social  reform,  as  I  prefer  to  call 
it,  is  tlie  method  of  personal  character.  The  i)reaching  of 
the  Christian  church  has  been  one  aspect  of  tliis  method. 
It  has  had  many  great  allies, — the  theatre;  the  novel;  the 


274  Evolution  and  Social  Iteform. 

newspaper  sometimes ;  biographies  of  noble  men  and  wom- 
en, and,  better  still,  the  personal  influence  of  such.  And 
that  for  which  it  works  is  the  one  thing  without  which  no 
social  reform  can  have  permanence  or  essential  worth.  So- 
ciety will  never  be  much,  if  any,  better  than  the  individuals 
of  which  it  is  composed.  If  we  could  have  a  perfect  social 
scheme  to-morrow,  with  men  and  women  just  as  they  are 
now,  it  would  soon  degenerate  to  the  average  level  of  the 
individuals  of  Avhich  it  is  composed.  There  must  be  a  con- 
spiracy of  the  outward  and  the  inward.  We  need  and  must 
have  better  social  forms :  so  far  the  Socialist  is  right.  We 
must  have  less  governmental  meddling,  less  interference, 
less  protection,  more  local  and  individual  responsibility :  so 
far  the  Anarchist  is  right, —  though  childishly  absurd  in 
glorying  in  a  name  w^hich  has  stood  for  lawlessness  so  long 
that  the  taint  will  stick  to  it  forever.  We  must  know  the 
laws  of  political  economy  and  the  social  structure,  in  order 
that  Ave  may  obey  them :  and  so  far  the  Scientific  method 
of  social  reform  is  right,  and  we  must  gi^'e  to  it  our  earnest 
heed.  But  the  Religious  method  of  social  reform  is  greater 
than  all  these.  It  is  the  method  of  personal  righteousness 
and  truth  and  love.  It  is  the  method  of  men  and  women 
devoted  to  lofty  personal  ideals.  Without  this  the  other 
methods  Avill  not  much  avail.  Without  the  others  this 
might  work  a  wondrous  transformation.  Society  Avould 
hardly  recognize  itself  if  all  men  and  Avomen  should  obey 
the  laAV  of  righteousness  so  far  as  it  is  knoAvn.  It  Avould 
think  that  it  was  ''Kingdom-come."  But  if  with  better 
social  regulations,  and  fewer  injurious  restraints,  and  larger 
scientific  knoAvledge,  Ave  cou.ld  have  a  general  consecration 
of  the  indiAadual  life  to  Avhat  it  belicA^es  and  knoAvs  to  be 
the  highest,  then  slio\ild  Ave  truly  see  the  glow  of  a  millen- 
nial daAvn.  Individually  it  may  be  that  Ave  cannot  do  much 
for  the  better  social  regulation,  or  the  lessening  of  inter- 
ference and  restraint,  or  the  increase  of  scientific  knoAvl- 
edge.  But  indiA^dually  Ave  can  each  present  one  man  or 
Avoman  to  the  CA'er-groAving  company  of  the  good  and  true 
Avlio  has  a  right  to  march  Avith  them  to  certain  A'ictory, 
though  it  may  not  be  for  us  to  taste  the  fulness  of  its  joy. 


EVOLUTION  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 
II.  THE  SOCIALISTIC  METHOD. 


BY 

WILLIAM   POTTS 
AuTHOB  OF  "Evolution  of  Vegetal  Life,"  etc. 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  "Principles  of  Sociology";  Cbas.  Booth's  "Labor 
and  Life  of  the  People"  ;  Mill's  "  Chapters  on  Socialism'" ;  A.  K. 
Owen's  "Integral  Co-operation";  Groulund's  "The  Co-operative 
Commonwealth"  and  "Ca  Ira'";  Graham's  "Creed  of  Science" 
and  "The  Social  Problem"';  George's  "Progress  and  Poverty" 
and  "Social  Problems";  R.  T.  Ely's  "Recent  American  Social- 
ism" and  "History  of  French  and  German  Socialism";  Moore's 
"Utopia";  Bellamy's  "Looking  Backward'',  Aug.  Jacobson's 
"Higher  Ground" ;  Edward  Kellogg's  "Labor  and  Capital";  T. 
Edwin  Brown's  "Studies  in  Modern  Socialism"  and  "Labor 
Problems";  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Sam'l  J.  Barnett's  "Practical  Social- 
ism"; Besant"s  "All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men,"  "Memorial 
of  Arnold  Toynbee,  and  Toynbee  Hall,"  "Rational  Communism"  ; 
Dr.  Schaeffle's  "The  Quintessence  of  Socialism";  Karl  Marx's 
"Das  Kapital";  Kirkup's  "An  Inquiry  into  Socialism"  and 
"Socialism"  (in  Ency.  Brit.);  Dr.  Theo.  D.  Woolsey's  "Com- 
munism and  Socialism." 

(276) 


EVOLUTION    AND    SOCIAL    REFORM.* 


II,     THE    SOCIALISTIC    METHOD, 

Communism,  Socialism,  Nationalism,  Anarchism  and  Ni- 
hilism are  terms  with  which  we  have  grown  familiar  within 
a  few  years.  All  of  the  movements  to  which  these  terms 
are  applied  had  their  origin  in  the  old  world  and  under  con- 
ditions of  society  and  laws  wholly  different  from  ours.  As 
they  appear  on  this  side  of  the  sea  there  is  a  certain  ele- 
ment of  unreality  in  them  of  which  in  thought  we  cannot 
readily  divest  ourselves,  the  arguments  by  which  they  are 
supported  being  so  completely  out  of  harmony  with  the 
conditions  with  which  we  are  familiar. 

We  hear  more  and  more  of  these  movements  in  this 
country,  mainly  from  three  causes.  First,  because  on  the 
average  the  wage-earners  are  relatively  much  better  off  than 
formerly,  and  are  naturally  and  properly  anxious  for  a  still 
greater  amelioration  of  their  condition;  secondly,  because 
there  is  a  rapidly  growing  interest  in  social  questions,  and 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  better  educated  and  more  pros- 
perous to  find  the  safest  and  most  effective  means  for  the 
improvement  of  the  position  of  the  whole ;  and  thirdly, 
because  these  two  conditions  afford  the  stimulus  to  enthu- 
siastic and  often  untrained  dreamers  to  unload  their  new 
and  fantastic  or  old  and  exploded  schemes  upon  eagerly 
listening  ears,  or  the  opportunity  for  the  soldier,  or  perhaps 
I  should  more  properly  say  the  sailor,  of  fortune  to  float 
his  leaky  craft  for  a  time  upon  the  swelling  wave  of  popu- 
lar interest.  Mr.  Laurence  Gronlund,  one  of  the  high- 
priests  of  the  socialistic  movement  here,  Avrites  of  certain 
of  Fourier's  anticipations,  "These  very  soon  commenced  to 
fire  the  American  heart,  and  like  a  mighty  wave  they  passed 
over  the  whole  settled  part  of  the  United  States  from  east 
to  west,  and,  indeed,  their  dying  embers  did  not  expire  till 
fifteen  years  later."  Certainly  a  remarkable  state  of  affairs. 
"Mr,  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Board  ! "  said  a  poor- 
law  guardian  in  the  north  of  Ireland, —  "  The  eyes  of  Eu- 
rope are  upon  us.     The  apple  of  discord  has  been  flung  in 

*  Copyright,  1890,  by  James  H.  West. 


278  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

our  midst,  and  if  it  Le  not  nipped  in  the  bud,  it  Avill  burst 
into  a  conflagration  wliicli  "will  deluge  the  world." 

That  the  advocates  of  most  of  these  schemes  should  at 
the  present  time  seek  to  establisli  them  by  means  of  an 
appeal  to  law  is  a  natural  result  of  a  want  of  knowledge  of 
the  past  and,  therefore,  a  want  of  knowledge  of  the 
methods  of  evolution.  It  is  not  seen  that  institutions 
result  from  the  development  of  society,  and  that  society  is 
not  the  result  of  institutions.  It  is  not  realized  that  law 
s  of  value  only  as  it  is  an  expression  of  the  sentiment  of 
the  people  by  whom  it  is  established,  and  moreover  that 
some  things  might  be  approved  by  the  majority  which  it 
would  be  the  extreme  of  unwisdom  to  put  into  the  form  of 
law.  Statute  law  is  useful  and  something  requisite,  but  it 
is  dangerous,  and  it  should  only  be  resorted  to  when  it  is 
necessary. 

Anarchism  strictly  means  a  condition  of  existence  with- 
out Government.  As  a  system,  if  we  may  use  such  an  ex- 
pression, it  appears  to  have  had  its  origin  in  Kussia,  as  did 
also  Nihilism  which  has  been  practically  confined  to  that 
country,  and  both  are  the  result  of  a  natural  revolt  from 
the  extreme  governmental  tyranny  of  which  Russia  has 
been  always  the  theatre.  The  term  Nihilism  first  made  its 
appearance  in  one  of  Turgueneff's  novels,  and  its  chief 
apostle  has  been  Tchernychevski.  It  is  the  outcome  of  a 
feeling  that  practically  all  existing  social  and  govermental 
conditions  are  radically  wrong,  and  that  there  is  no  hope 
for  improvement  excepting  through  their  utter  destruction. 
In  relation  to  that  which  is  to  come  after  this  destruction, 
there  is  no  common  agreement. 

Anarchism,  or  anarchy,  of  which  Bakunin  is  the  most 
pronounced  prophet,  is  extreme  Individualism.  According 
to  its  advocates  there  should  be  no  power  above  tliat  of  the 
individual.  All  action  must  be  voluntar}-,  and  personal 
action  must  be  uncontrolled.  This  conception  comes  from 
apprehending  Government  in  its  old  sense,  as  something 
imposed  from  without.  The  modern  idea  is  that  Govern- 
ment is  merely  an  agency  of  the  jjeople  for  specific  pur- 
poses. 8ome  things  which  are  necessary  that  social  order 
may  exist  can  only  be  secured  by  an  agency  acting  for  the 
whole.  There  are  numerous  other  things  which  can  be 
best  done  by  such  an  agency  without  inflicting  a  more  than 
counterbalancing  damage,  and  it  is  mere  waste  and  wanton 


The  Socialistic  Method.  27d 

injury  to  the  commonweal  not  to  nse  this  agency  to  the 
best  advantage. 

It  is  difficult,  I  may  say  practically  impossible,  to  sep- 
arate and  define  distinctively  the  terms  Communism  and 
Socialism.  Both  terms  are  used,  and  have  been  used  more 
jiarticularly  in  the  past,  to  indicate  the  governing  principle 
of  certain  voluntary  and  local  establishments,  and  both  are 
used,  and  especially  at  the  present  time,  to  indicate  action 
by  the  State  —  by  the  official  power  whatever  it  may  be. 
Of  both  there  have  been  and  are  all  conceivable  degrees, 
from  Brook  Earm  and  the  Fourierite  Phalansteries,  to  the 
Socialistic  State  of  Lassalle,  Karl  Marx  and  the  Inter- 
national. 

Ebenezer  Elliott,  the  Corn-law  Rhymer,  thus  expresses 
his  idea  of  a  communist : 

"What  is  a  Communist?     One  who  has  yearnings 
For  equal  division  of  unequal  earnings  : 
An  idler  or  bungler,  or  both,  he  is  willing 
To  fork  out  his  penny  and  pocket  your  shilling." 

Now  this,  though  a  perfectly  true  pictvire  of  a  multitude  of 
Communists  or  Socialists,  is  wholly  false  as  regards  many 
others. 

As  the  line  which  separates  Communism  from  Socialism 
cannot  be  discovered,  so  the  line  is  frequently  indistinct 
between  these  and  Anarchism ;  or,  rather,  many  persons 
consider  tliemselves  both  Anarchists  and  Socialists,  although, 
as  I  shall  try  to  show  a  little  later,  nothing  could  be  more 
incongruous  if  we  take  the  modern  sense  of  Socialism  as 
Collectivism  or  NationalisTii. 

There  are  four  descriptions  of  persons  who  are  to  be 
noted  as  together  composing  the  body,  the  members  of  which 
classify  themselves  under  these  various  titles :  First,  a  large 
number  of  uninstructed  persons  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
unrest,  and  mainly  desirous  of  bettering  their  personal  con- 
dition in  any  way  that  may  be  handy ;  secondly,  another 
large  number  of  persons,  also  uninstructed,  but  sympathetic, 
who  seize  upon  any  scheme  which  seems  to  offer  a  prospect 
of  promoting  the  general  good ;  thirdly,  a  smaller  number 
of  persons,  who  are  ready  to  play  the  demagogue  for  their 
personal  advantage  at  the  cost  of  any  cause  which  they 
can  make  tributary  to  it;  and  fourthly,  a  small  number  of 
thinkers  and  students  who  are  generally  familiar  with  the 
teachings  of  history  but  are  for  the  most  part  guided  by 
their  feelings. 


280  Eoolutlon  and  Social  Reform : 

There  is  no  matter  in  wliicli  it  is  so  necessary  or  so  diffi- 
cult to  hold  one's  self  in  check,  as  the  matter  of  social  re- 
form, nor  is  there  any  field  in  which  more  harm  may  be  done. 
The  evils  of  the  past  have  been  so  great,  the  sufferings  of  the 
present  continue  so  serious,  that  one's  sympathy  becomes  im- 
mediately involved,  and  unless  he  is  able  to  hold  a  tight  rein 
upon  it  it  is  sure  to  run  away  with  him.  The  Socialist 
tells  us  —  at  least  he  tells  me  —  that  the  social  reformer  is 
not  a  real  social  reformer  until  he  is  mastered  by  his 
feelings ;  until  he  has  permitted  himself  to  be  swept  away 
by  his  indignation  and  is  unable  to  see  anything  but  the 
matter  before  him.  To  this  I  reply  —  then  is  he  a  danger 
to  the  people,  a  pest  to  mankind,  and  society  is  bound  to 
protect  itself  against  him  as  it  is  bound  to  protect  itself 
against  any  person  of  unbalanced  mind.  For  I  take  it  that 
there  will  be  no  dissent  among  sane  persons  to  the  state- 
ment that  the  intellect  is  the  crowning  factor  in  human 
nature,  that  upon  the  clearness  of  intellectual  action 
depends  human  development  and  human  progress,  and  that 
an  intellect  clouded  by  passion  is  an  unbalanced  intellect 
and  dangerous  to  its  possessor  and  to  the  community,  even 
though  the  passion  may  in  the  beginning  have  been  inspired 
by  an  impulse  the  most  benevolent ;  and  indeed,  most 
because  of  this,  since  it  is  likely  then  to  become  most  in- 
tense and  to  be  most  disastrous  in  the  consequences  of  its 
Berserker  rage. 

Modern  Communism  and  Socialism  had  their  origin  in 
France,  but  Socialism  ha,s  made  greatest  progress  in  Ger- 
many. Any  deductions,  however,  drawn  from  the  amount 
of  the  socialist  vote  in  the  late  election  for  members  of  the 
Keiclistag  would  be  misleading,  since  this  was  largely  the 
result  of  a  temporary  combination.  In  France  Socialism 
was  a  natui-al  ])art  of  the  revolt  from  tlie  tyranny  of  the 
ancient  regime,  stimulated  rather  than  re])ressed  by  tlie 
large  amount  of  liberty  acquired  through  the  Revolution, 
which  led  those  with  untrained  minds,  or  with  minds  sud- 
denly emancipated,  to  believe  that  all  things  could  be 
obtiiined  by  means  through  which  so  much  liad  been  ])ro- 
cured ;  and  in  Germany  it  has  been  largely  the  reaction 
against  arbitrary  military  rule  and  prescriptive  exactions. 
The  Socialisni  of  the  old  days  was  in  the  main  a  voluntary 
organization  of  comnmnities  in  which  the  rights  of  the  in- 
dividual were  merged  more  or  less  permanently  in  that  of 


The  Socialistic  Method.  281 

the  Community.  They  were  practically  co-operative  asso- 
ciations of  an  extreme  type.  Of  such,  with  certain  qual- 
ifications, is  the  Familistere  at  Guise.  The  Socialism  or 
Collectivism  or  Nationalism  of  to-day  is  absolutely  antipo- 
dal to  the  voluntary  co-operative  society.  The  latter  is 
what  its  name  implies,  a  free  partnership  for  the  common 
good.  On  the  other  hand,  State  Socialism,  which  is  the 
Socialism  of  Lassalle  and  Marx,  and  of  their  disciples  in 
England  and  America  as  well  as  in  Germany  and.  France,  is 
in  its  essence  the  apotheosis  of  force.  I  am  aware  that 
these  disciples  will  not  be  disposed  to  admit  that  this  state- 
ment is  true,  but  philosophically  it  is  absolutely  incontro- 
vertible, as  I  shall  try  to  show. 

Among  Socialists  you  will  find  the  most  tender  souls, 
hearts  throbbing  with  good-will  to  all  mankind.  There  is 
nothing  exceptional  or  astonishing  in  this  ;  it  has  been  so 
in  all  the  ages,  and  in  the  private  recesses  of  the  home  it 
is  often  the  finger  of  devoted  love  which  touches  the  key 
to  the  most  dreadful  doom.  The  Inquisition  was  the  work 
of  those  whose  intentions  were  of  the  best,  who  wished  to 
save  mankind  from  eternal  torment :  the  bloodiest  wars 
in  all  history  have  been  wars  prosecuted  by  enthusiasts  in 
the  name  of  religion.  Mr.  Bellamy,  it  is  said,  Mr.  Gron- 
lund,  Mr.  George,  and  others,  are  animated  by  a  pure  desire 
for  the  good  of  mankind.  Shall  we  say  because  of  this 
reason,  we  must  agree  with  their  thought  and  indorse  their 
plans  ?  The  world  has  been  full  of  enthusiasts  all  the  ages 
down.  The  world  has  suffered  for  them,  it  has  bled  for 
them,  it  has  died  for  them.  Does  it  make  no  difference 
whether  the  enthusiasm  is  a  wise  enthusiasm? — whether 
it  is  in  line  with  the  drift  of  the  divine  power,  or  wh  ther 
it  is  athwart  or  against  the  current  ?  Shall  we  say  that  it 
is  enough  that  the  leader  claims  to  be  inspired  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  ?  and  must  we  follow  him  whither  he  leads,  though 
it  may  be  into  miasmatic  labyrinths,  into  morasses  from 
which  the  race,  if  it  emerge  at  all,  must  painfully  again 
fight  its  way  outward  to  the  light  as  in  ages  now  long 
buried  in  the  past  ?  Ah !  how  large  a  part  of  the  ])athos 
of  human  life  all  the  ages  through  do  we  find  in  the  un- 
numbered multitudes  of  tender  souls,  crushed  by  the  wheels 
of  the  car  of  human  progress  in  the  vain  effort  to  retard 
their  revohition  or  turn  them  into  a  different  path ! 

That  system  of  administration  which  centralizes  the  con- 


282  Evolution  and  Social  Refo-nn: 

trol  of  social  functions  must,  by  tlie  necessity  of  the  case, 
be  absolute  militarism,  or  be  an  absolute  failure.  And  be  it 
remembered  always  that  for  the  pur])ose  of  doing  one  i)ar- 
ticular  thing  in  one  particnilar  way  at  one  particular  time 
and  in  one  particular  place  the  army  is  the  ideal  organiza- 
tion, and  the  more  complete  it  is  as  a  machine,  the  more 
absolutely  individualities  must  be  curbed ;  while  for  the 
purpose  of  doing  an  infinite  variety  of  things  in  an  infinite 
variety  of  ways,  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  (and  this  is 
life),  the  army  is  the  worst  possible  ideal. 

State  Socialism,  or  Collectivism,  or  Nationalism,  proposes 
in  general  that  land  and  capital  shall  be  taken  possession 
of  by  the  State ;  that  all  production  for  distribution,  and 
all  distribution,  shall  be  under  the  supervision  and  control 
of  the  State ;  that  every  member  of  the  community  shall 
draw  from  the  State  his  compensation,  whatever  it  may  be, 
for  services  performed  ;  and  that  money  and  interest  shall 
cease  to  exist.  There  may  be  minor  qualifications  of  these 
conditions,  but  I  think  tliat  which  I  have  given  will  be  ac- 
cepted by  collectivists  as  an  approximately  correct  state- 
ment of  the  end  which  they  have  in  view.  The  more  ad- 
vanced and  consistent  of  them  hold  that  the  scheme 
necessarily  implies  international  union  upon  these  matters. 
According  to  some  the  establishment  of  the  Socialistic 
State  is  to  be  gained  by  violence  ;  according  to  others  it  is 
to  be  reached  by  a  peaceful  revolution.  According  to  some 
the  expropriation  of  private  property  is  to  be  made  at  once 
and  witliout  compensation ;  according  to  others  a  com- 
promise is  to  be  effected  upon  some  system  of  terminable 
annuities, —  annuities  payable  in  goods,  or  orders  similar  to 
those  payable  for  services,  but  terminating  within  a  limited 
number  of  years. 

Now  wliat  follows,  of  necessity,  from  this  scheme  ?  A 
vast  centralized  organization- — according  to  some  under  an 
Emperor  and  State  hierarcliy,  but  according  to  most  writers 
under  a  pure  democracy- — must  have  control  of  all  labor 
and  of  all  distribution  without  distinction  or  exception. 
And  this  means  vastly  more  tlian  can  be  conveyed  by  these 
words.  It  means  the  control  of  all  varieties  of  em])loy- 
ment,  the  determination  of  Avhat  is  to  be  pnjduced,  wliere 
it  is  to  be  ])roduced,  how  it  is  to  be  ])ro(luced,  liow  miu-li  is 
to  be  ])roduce(l;  the  determination  tlierefore  of  the  number 
of  laborers,  of  where   tliey  sliall   labor,  and  at  what   they 


The  Socialistic  Method.  283 

shall  labor,  and  how  long  they  shall  labor ;  the  control  of 
all  religion  so  far  as  it  shall  be  manifested  in  institutions ; 
the  control  of  all  instruction  so  far  as  it  shall  be  outside  of 
the  home.  For  example  :  An  unwillingness  to  engage  in 
the  production  of  food,  successfully  manifested,  must  pro- 
duce famine.  The  teaching  of  doctrines  contrary  to  the 
scheme  in  vogue  would  be  equivalent  to  the  spreading  of 
anti-slavery  doctrines  in  the  South  in  the  days  before  the 
war.  To  tolerate  it  would  be  to  expose  the  State  to  inev- 
itable destruction.  Some  systems  propose  to  pay  alike  for 
all  kinds  of  labor,  others  propose  to  pay  in  some  propor- 
tion to  the  value  of  services,  this  value  of  course  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  same  officials  who  indicate  the  kind  and 
extent  of  the  labor.  Mr  Bellamy  proposes  to  pay  all  alike, 
but  to  require  shorter  service  in  certain  kinds  of  labor  than 
in  others.  The  individual  becomes  of  necessity  the  servant 
of  society,  or  of  those  who  for  the  time  being  represent 
society,  and  must  obey  their  behests.  He  becomes  the 
slave  of  the  State  rather  than  the  servant,  for  service  may 
imply  voluntary  contract,  and  there  is  nothing  really  vol- 
untary in  the  attitude  of  the  individual  under  the  proposed 
system.  He  may  submit  to  the  inevitable,  but  it  is  the  in- 
evitable and  he  has  no  choice  but  to  submit.  From  a 
phalanstery  or  any  local  socialistic  body  he  may  escape, 
but  there  is  no  escape  from  the  international  socialistic 
State  except  out  of  the  world. 

If  there  is  any  way  in  which  the  socialistic  State  can  be 
carried  on  without  the  exercise  of  this  control  by  the  au- 
thorities, I  am  unable  to  conceive  it.  And  how  are  the 
persons  to  be  selected  who  are  to  exercise  this  control  ?  By 
popular  suffrage  !  Imagine  it  if  you  can.  Think  of  what 
is  the  present  result  of  popular  suffrage  tempered  by  all 
that  can  be  done  to  qualify  it,  and  think  of  wliat  it  would 
be  were  all  the  interests  of  life  dependent  upon  it !  Our 
main  reliance  to-day  is  and  must  be  upon  the  sturdy  in- 
dependence which  has  been  fostered  by  our  mvdtifarious 
individual  development,  which  cliallenges  merely  official 
authority  at  every  point.  The  Socialists  tell  us,  "  Oh,  but 
under  our  system  the  best  men  would  be  chosen  to  perform 
the  various  functions."  To  this  remark  there  is  really  no 
reply.  One  must  simply  gaze  in  mute  despair  at  the 
speaker  and  feel  of  his  own  head  to  ascertain  whether  it 
is  still  upon  his  slioulders. 


284  Evolution  and  Social  B.efoi'Tn : 

The  success  of  Socialism  implies  a  tyranny  as  much 
more  dreadful  than  any  that  the  world  has  liitherto  seen 
as  our  civilization  is  more  complex  than  was  the  civilization 
of  the  past.  Imagine  if  you  can  the  possibility  of  such 
intellectual  lives  as  that  of  Emerson,  or  those  of  which  we 
have  just  lieard  told  in  this  course  of  lectures, —  the  lives 
of  Youmans  and  Gray.  Imagine  such  a  system  organized 
a  thousand  years  ago,  and  imagine  it  successful.  ^Modern 
civilization  becomes  at  once  an  impossibility.  The  knowl- 
edge of  the  new  world  and  of  all  that  has  come  of  it,  nay, 
the  very  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  the  Western  Hem- 
isphere, must  be  blotted  out.  But  I  am  drawing  too  heavily 
upon  your  imagination  —  at  least  I  have  reached  the  limit 
of  my  own.  One  can  picture  to  himself  the  experiment 
attempted,  but  he  cannot  think  of  it  as  enduring  for  a 
moment.  The  very  leaders  of  the  movement  would  be 
among  the  first  to  revolt  against  its  decrees.  Their  strongest 
characteristic  is  their  unwillingness  to  submit  to  the  condi- 
tions surrounding  them,  their  assurance  that  they  are  right 
and  that  the  majority  are  wrong.  Think  of  Ferdinand 
Lassalle  or  Karl  Marx  or  William  Morris  submitting  to  be 
ordered  in  all  his  affairs  by  a  petty  officer  placed  in  au- 
thority over  him  by  the  multitude  which  he  glorifies ! 
Some  of  them  would  be  burned  at  the  stake  rather  than 
yield  one  jot  of  their  inde])endence. 

I  have  alluded  to  Mi'.  Bellamy  because  for  the  moment 
he  is  the  rejjresentative  of  the  Socialist  movement  in 
America,  and  he  is  said  to  have  sold  more  than  300,000 
copies  of  his  book.  He  has  attempted  a  picture  of  an  ideal 
society,  as  Plato  in  the  "Kepublic,"  Sir  Thomas  More  in 
the  "  Utopia,"  Campanella  in  ''  The  City  of  the  Sun,"  Lord 
]iacon  in  the  "Xew  Atlantis,"  Cabet  in  the  "Voyage  to 
Icaria."  It  is  })rincipally  noteworthy  for  the  horror  Avith 
which  it  inspires  one  who  cluM-ishes  the  old  idea,  "Give  me 
liberty  or  give  me  death."  His  fitness  for  tlie  discussion 
of  such  a  i)roblem  as  that  Avhich  he  has  undertaken  to  treat 
is  amusingly  illustrated  by  his  management  of  the  marriage 
question.  He  hugs  himself  witli  delight  at  the  improve- 
ment of  the  race  which  is  to  result  from  the  fact  that  the 
finest  men  are  to  marry  oidy  the  finest  women,  wholly  ob- 
livious of  the  fact  that  imless  he  revolutionizes  human 
nature  he  simply  leaves  all  the  rest  and  residue  of  the  race 
to  many  and  multiply  after  their  kind,  and,  if  there  is  any 


The  Socialistic  Method.  285 

force  in  liis  argument  whatever,  to  intensify  the  evil  which 
they  represent.  He  has  recently  issued  a  platform  of  what 
Nationalism  at  present  demands,  including  among  these 
things  Civil-Service  Reform  and  other  matters  which  have 
about  as  much  to  do  with  Nationalism  as  a  system  as  they 
have  to  do  with  Conic  Sections. 

The  socialistic  movement  rests  largely  upon  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  rich  and  the  poor  are  distinct  classes,  per- 
manently fixed  under  the  present  order.  In  certain  coun- 
tries in  a  rough  sense  this  has  been  true,  but  only  in  a 
rough  sense,  and  even  there  it  is  becoming  less  and  less 
true.  In  this  country  it  is  simply  nonsense.  Anyone  who 
has  knowledge  of  the  facts  is  aware  of  this.  It  has  long 
been  proverbial  that  90  or  95  per  cent,  of  all  capitalists 
fail  in  business,  and  the  number  of  families  Avhich  have 
retained  large  property  through  several  generations  is 
extremely  small. 

In  tlie  city  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  of  thirty  persons 
who  were  leading  manufacturers  in  1840,  fourteen  failed 
and  fourteen  died  or  retired  with  property.  Only  three  of 
the  sons  now  have  property  or  died  leaving  any.  Of 
seventy -five  of  the  same  class  in  1850,  forty-one  failed  and 
thirty  died  or  retired  with  property.  Only  six  of  the  sons 
now  have  property  or  died  leaving  any.  Of  one  hundred 
and  seven  of  the  same  class  in  1860,  forty-three  failed  and 
sixty  died  or  retired  with  property ;  —  of  the  sons  only  eight 
now  have  property  or  died  leaving  any.  Twenty-eight  out 
of  the  thirty  manufacturers  of  1840  began  as  journeymen. 
One  hundred  and  sixty-one  out  of  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  manufacturers  of  1878  began  as  journeymen.  As  an 
intelligent  commentator  puts  it,  "The  truth  is,  that  the 
capitalists  of  to-day  are  themselves  the  workingmen  of 
twenty-five  years  ago,  as  the  workingmen  of  to-day  will  be 
the  capitalists  of  twenty -five  years  hence." 

The  demand  of  interest  for  the  use  of  money  is  one  of 
the  matters  against  which  Socialists  and  also  some  good 
people  who  are  not  Socialists  most  loudly  inveigh.  Now, 
simply  remarking  that  a  great  part  of  what  is  called  in- 
terest is  merely  a  premium  on  insurance  against  loss  of  the 
principal,  and  the  remainder  a  very  small  charge  for  a  very 
great  assistance  given  to  the  borrower,  I  want  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  not  one  person  out  of  one  hundred 
thousand  has  any  adequate  knowledge  of   the   relation  of 


286  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

the  actual  to  the  tlieoretical  in  the  matter  of  interest.  The 
legal  rate  of  interest  in  tliis  State, —  and  in  passing  I 
desire  to  express  the  opinion  that  the  fixing  of  a  legal  rate, 
excepting  as  a  standard  to  which  to  appeal  when  there  is 
no  rate  by  contract,  is  an  injury  to  the  community, —  the 
legal  rate  in  this  State  is  six  per  cent,  per  annum.  Now, 
it  is  undoubtedly  the  common,  thought  that  a  sum  of  money 
can  be  invested  at  this  rate,  and  allowed  permanently  to 
accumulate  at  compound  interest.  What  is  the  fact  ? 
Suppose  one  dollar,  one  single  little  gold  dollar,  which  is 
the  smallest  of  all  the  golden  seeds  which  produce  this 
crop  of  interest,  to  have  been  invested  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era,  and  allowed  to  compound  annually  at  six 
per  cent,  until  this  day.  If  you  will  consider  the  sum  thus 
accumulated  as  turned  into  gold,  and  this  gold  placed  where 
the  sun  now  is,  it  would  form  a  solid  mass  extending  in  all 
directions  beyond  the  eartli's  orbit  —  amass  more  than  two 
hundred  millions  of  miles  in  diameter.  From  this  one 
dollar  there  would  have  accumulated  in  eighteen  hvmdred 
and  ninety  years  a  sum  of  wliich  the  market  value  of  all 
property  real  and  personal  which  exists  upon  the  globe,  or 
which  ever  could  exist  thereon  at  any  one  time,  would  be 
an  almost  imperceptible  fraction.  Now  compare  this  with 
what  has  actually  ever  occurred  in  the  way  of  accumulation 
and  you  will  obtain  some  faint  conception  of  the  relation 
of  theory  to  fact.  What  has  become  of  this  interest  then  ? 
It  has  been  stolen,  it  has  been  lost, —  it  has  been  burned  by 
lire,  it  has  been  drowned  by  water,  it  has  been  destroyed  in 
battle :  you  will  find  it  in  houses  and  in  shops,  in  pictures 
and  in  statues,  in  roads  and  in  bridges,  in  the  grass  which 
covers  the  field,  in  the  present  grain  which  in  the  past  did 
not  exist ;  in  the  erect  carriage  and  wide  capacity  of  your 
men,  in  the  delicate  complexions,  the  gentle  voices  and 
manners  of  your  women.  In  fine,  interest  is  merely  one 
slight  inducement  to  that  habit  of  thrift  and  that  effort  for 
extended  powers  and  opi)ortunities  which  have  made  the  man 
of  our  age  and  race  a  different  creature  from  the  cave- 
dweller  and  the  wandering  savage.  It  has  been  one  of  the 
potent  agents  of  human  evolution,  qualified  and  often 
rendered  nugatory  by  ojjposing  forces. 

The  two  factors  which  are  mainly  responsible  for  tlie 
development  and  advance  of  civilization  are  the  accumula- 
tion of  capital  and  the  existence  of  com])etition,  that  hete 
7ioire  of  the  Socialist.      A  i^rcat  increase  of  interest-bearing 


The  Socialistic  Method.  287 

capital  greatly  strengthens  the  position  of  the  laborer  by 
increasing  competition  among  the  capitalists. 

The  avowed  object  of  the  Socialist  is  of  course  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  less  prosperous  part  of 
mankind  and  to  establish  equality,  and  his  main  argument 
for  the  policy  of  Collectivism  is  that  it  will  stimulate  pro- 
duction to  the  highest  point  and  greatly  cheapen  it,  as  well 
as  eqvialize  distribution.  Equality  is  his  ideal,  not  liberty. 
I<"ow,  I  think  it  is  sufficient  to  say  in  regard  to  this  matter 
of  cheap  production  that  we  have  got  past  that  star.  Tlie 
enormous  improvements  in  processes  which  have  come  with 
the  inventions  of  the  past  hundred  years,  together  with 
those  now  in  progress  will,  I  think,  within  twenty-five 
years  have  forever  removed  from  the  field  of  debate  the 
question  of  production  sufficient  in  amount  for  the  needs 
of  all.  The  questions  that  remain  are,  (1)  "What  shall  be 
the  character  of  the  products,  good  or  bad,  durable  or 
otherwise,  artistic  or  slovenly  and  commonplace? — which 
can  only  be  settled  by  individual  development;  —  and  (2) 
Equitable  distribution  in  such  manner  as  shall  promote 
and  not  repress  this  development. 

And  is  it  true  that  through  equality  progress  is  to  be 
made,  and  that  without  it  the  lower  must  remain  the  lower 
to  tlie  end  of  time  ?  To  me  history  tells  exactly  the  oppo- 
site story. 

The  effort  of  the  Socialist  is  directed  toward  the  establish- 
ment of  uniformity,  while  the  whole  drift  of  the  universe  is, 
and  always  has  been,  from  uniformity  toward  diversity.  In 
my  judgment  the  proposed  cure  for  the  ills  of  mankind  is 
impossible  of  application,  and  if  it  were  possible  the  cure 
would  be  twenty  times  worse  than  the  disease. 

Mr.  Henry  George  is  not  a  Socialist  excepting  in  the 
matter  of  the  ownership  of  real  estate,  and  in  that  he  is 
prepared  to  make  a  compromise  and  simply  take  the  A^alue 
of  land  instead  of  taking  the  land  itself.  These  are  his 
words  : 

"The  Standard  advocates  the  abolition  of  all  taxes  upon  in- 
dustry and  the  i)ioducts  of  industry,  and  the  taking,  hy  taxation 
upon  land  values,  irrespective  of  improvements,  of  the  annual 
rental  value  of  all  those  various  forms  of  natural  opportunities 
embraced  under  the  general  term  Land. 

"We  hold  that  to  tax  labor  or  its  products  is  to  discourage 
industry.  We  hold  that  to  tax  land  values  to  their  full  anuiunt 
Avill  render  it  impossible  for  any  man  to  exact  from  others  a  ])rice 
for  the  privilege  of  using  those  bounties  of  Natiu'e  in  -which  all 


288  Evolution  and  Social  Reform  : 

living  men  have  an  equal  right  of  use  ;  that  it  will  compel  every 
individual  controlling  natural  opportunities  to  utilize  them  by 
employment  of  labor  or  abandon  them  to  others  ;  that  it  will  thus 
l)rovide  opportunities  of  work  for  all  men,  and  secure  to  each  the 
full  reward  of  his  labor  ;  and  that  as  a  result  involuntary  poverty 
will  be  abolished,  and  the  greed,  intemperance,  and  vice  that 
spring  from  poverty  and  the  dread  of  poverty  will  be  swept  away." 

Truly  a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wislied  !  I  should 
feel  more  confidence  in  Mr.  George's  prophecy  if  I  had 
not  unfortunately  read  his  explanation  of  financial  crises, 
which  seems  to  me  the  most  elaborate  and  consistent  mis- 
statement of  an  economic  question  which  it  ever  entered 
into  the  mind  of  man  to  conceive.  It  is  a  most  admirable 
demonstration  of  wliat  a  courser  a  hobby  may  become  when 
he  takes  the  bit  between  his  teeth. 

Mr.  George's  theory,  of  course,  is  that  these  crises  are 
the  result  of  private  ow-nership  of  land,  and  of  land 
speculations.  l$o^\  I  cannot  imagine  anyone  who  has 
passed  through  two  or  three  of  these  crises,  and  wlio  has 
really  been  familiar  with  the  course  of  events,  advancing 
any  theory  so  preposterous.  A  crisis,  a  panic,  is  a  very 
simple  matter  if  you  keep  in  view  the  peculiarities  of  hu- 
man nature,  which  curiously  enough  are  seldom  taken  into 
account  by  tlie  Socialist,  extreme  or  limited.  The  order  is 
simply  tliis :  a  period  of  commercial  calm  provokes  the 
development  of  business  enterprises ;  this  development 
increases  capital  and  stinuilates  confidence ;  confidence  in 
turn  begets  credit  and  tliis  reacts  upon  production ;  the  re- 
sulting production  still  further  stinuilates  credit,  and  strong 
and  weak  alike  are  induced  to  spread  themselves  to  the 
utmost  upon  the  strength  of  public  confidence  ;  tliose  who 
have  been  most  successful  and  who  are  most  shrewd  now 
feel  that  it  is  best  to  make  sure  of  wliat  they  liave  acquired, 
and  begin  buying  real  estate  which  has  long  lagged  behind 
l)ersonal  property  in  the  advance  ;  its  value  of  course  rises  ; 
at  tlie  same  time  the  system  of  commercial  credits  has 
readied  the  state  of  tension  which  is  typified  by  tlxe  Prince 
]vui)ert's  drop  of  tlie  jjliysicist,  of  which  —  break  oif  but 
tlie  tiniest  point  —  the  whole  mass  will  fly  into  the  finest 
])OAvder.  Somewhere  a  hollow  shell  breaks,  a  bank  or  a 
merchant  fails,  financial  institutions  stop  lending,  the  notes 
which  fall  due  cannot  be  extended  —  the  credit  system  ex- 
])lodes,  and  the  members  of  the  community,  weak  and  strong 
alike,  are  involved  in  a  common  ruin. 


The  Socialistic  Method.  289 

The  theory  of  the  different  relation  of  man  to  land  and 
to  other  possessions  is  not  new ;  it  is  the  universal  prop- 
erty of  all  civilized  communities.  That  which  is  most 
new  on  the  part  of  Mr.  George  and  his  immediate  fol- 
lowers is  the  deliberate  assvimption  and  statement  that 
the  practical  spoliation  of  the  present  holders  of  real  prop- 
erty would  be  just,  would  be  in  the  interest  of  mankind 
and  agreeable  to  the  gods. 

The  first  consideration  is  that  land  cannot  be  increased 
in  amount,  while  the  race  is  constantly  increasing  in  num- 
bers. Most  true;  and  it  is  likewise  true  that  with  ad- 
vancing civilization  land  increases  rapidly  in  productivity, 
while  population  as  rapidly  diminishes  in  rate  of  growth. 
There  is  not  yet  the  slightest  evidence  that  the  one 
will  ultimately  become  too  small  for  the  other.  Mr. 
George  claims  that  land  was  at  one  time  common  prop- 
erty, and  that  it  has  gradually  fallen  into  private  hands 
through  more  or  less  of  fraud  and  violence.  This  is  also 
most  true,  and  I  think  that  it  would  seriously  puzzle 
the  author  to  pitch  upon  any  kind  of  property  what- 
ever the  possession  of  which  has  not  in  some  degree  and 
at  some  time  been  tainted  with  fraud  and  violence.  In 
the  sense  in  which  Mr.  George's  statement  with  regard  to 
real  property  is  true,  the  same  statement  is  true  with  re- 
gard to  personal  property  either  as  to  the  articles  themselves 
which  constitute  such  property,  or  as  to  some  of  the  labor 
which  at  one  time  or  another  was  involved  in  them,  or  as 
to  the  raw  materials  of  which  they  are  composed  which  at 
some  time  were  a  part  of  the  land,  the  ''natural  opportuni- 
ties "  which  Henry  George  says  have  been  appropriated  by 
fraud  and  violence.  Indeed,  according  to  the  Scriptures, 
''from  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  until  now  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  suffereth  violence  and  the  violent  taketh  it  by 
force." 

Because  land  was  at  one  time  in  a  certain  sense  common 
property  (which  also  it  is  to-day)  Mr.  George  claims  that 
it  is  so  now  in  every  sense,  and  that  the  taking  of  the 
rent  of  land  by  private  owners  "  is  a  fresh  and  continuous 
robbery  that  goes  on  every  day  and  every  hour."  He  bases 
the  claim  that  the  community  as  a  whole  should  expropri- 
ate the  land  without  compensation  to  the  land-holder,  on 
the  doctrine  of  natural  right,  the  same  doctrine  upon  which 
is  largely  built  the  theory  of  the  various  socialistic  bodies. 


290  Evolution  and  Social  Hefonn : 

Now,  this  is  merely  fustian.  If  the  theory  of  evolution  is 
true,  the  man  primarily  has  a  natural  right  to  his  place  on 
the  soil  simply  and  solely  as  the  vegetable  has  a  right  to 
its  place.  If  the  oak  in  a  fertile  spot,  striking  its  roots 
broadly  and  deeply  and  spreading  its  giant  arms  in  air,  is 
entitled  to  its  position  and  entitled  to  crowd  out  other 
plants,  then  and  for  the  same  reason  is  man  entitled  to  his. 
They  obtained  their  right  through  the  same  rule  of  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  as  the  effect  of  universal  laws,  —  each 
holds  it  by  the  right  of  might,  and  may  be  called  upon  to 
yield  it  to  the  same  right.  To  say  that  in  certain  instances — 
in  innumerable  instances  —  there  Avas  violence  exercised  in 
obtaining  this  control,  is  to  say  that  Avhich  is  substantially 
true  of  all  property  and  of  every  line  of  progress  when  a 
sufficiently  comprehensive  view  is  taken  of  it.  If  we  as- 
sume a  certain  theory  of  justice  to  be  true  of  all  circum- 
stances and  of  all  times,  then  is  our  past  but  a  sorry  one. 
If  we  adopt  a  certain  point  of  view  as  correct  let  us  be  true 
to  what  it  demands  ^ — let  us  recognize  the  fact  that  the  idea 
of  equality  of  opportunity  is  the  child  of  to-day,  and,  though 
the  best  beloved  perhaps,  to  be  nurtured  in  accordance  with 
the  demands  of  the  principle  which  governs  development. 

With  the  developing  man,  mental  and  moral  forces  came 
to  supplement  physical  forces,  and  law  was  gradually  form- 
ulated, touching  alike  the  relation  of  man  to  land  and  his 
relation  to  other  things.  When  the  race  reached  a  full 
conception  of  the  right  of  individual  property  it  made  its 
first  great  stride  in  civilization.  And  this  was  equally 
so  in  the  case  of  the  ownership  of  land  as  in  the  case  of 
other  things.  The  lines  of  change  in  different  countries 
have  varied  but  change  has  been  steadily  from  the  common 
to  the  individual,  with  ever-increasing  value  to  the  race. 
As  I  look  back  over  the  history  of  the  past,  the  develop- 
ment of  agriculture  with  all  that  has  followed  therefrom 
would  be  perfectly  inconceivable  except  through  the  private 
ownership  of  land  as  that  private  ownership  is  defined  and 
limited  in  civilized  countries.  For  it  must  always  be  borne 
in  mind  that  absolute  private  ownership  of  land  is  recog- 
nized by  no  civilized  people.  What  is  called  ownership  of 
land  is  only  a  more  or  less  extended  riffht  of  use.  The 
right  of  eminent  domain  is  universally  conceded  as  resting 
in  the  nation  as  a  whole,  but  this  right,  it  is  generally 
understood  by  modern  peoples,  should  not  be  exercised  ex- 


The  Socialistic  Method.  291 

cepting  in  the  clear  interest  of  the  whole  body.  The  com- 
munity has  the  right  of  might  and  can  be  relied  upon  to 
exercise  the  right  in  establishing  such  rules  as  are  necessary 
for  its  own  preservation. 

And  now,  bearing  in  mind  that  the  present  holders  of 
land  have  acquired  it  precisely  as  they  have  acquired  other 
things,  through  the  methods  established  by  the  community 
as  right  and  just,  we  are  called  upon  to  step  in  and  quietly 
relieve  them  of  it.  Perhaps  most  ingeniously  absurd  of  all 
is  the  proposition  to  distinguish  between  the  land  and  the 
improvements  upon  it,  acquired  in  precisely  the  same  way. 
Excepting  in  the  cities  and  in  property  similar  to  city 
property  this  is  absolutely  impossible.  Moreover  I  can  by 
my  personal  labor  make  land  which  is  worth  now  one  dollar 
per  acre,  worth  a  few  years  hence  one  hundred  dollars  per 
acre,  without  stepping  my  foot  upon  it  or  allowing  a  stick 
or  a  stone  to  be  moved,  simply  by  making  it  accessible,  by 
building  roads,  and  in  other  ways  making  that  which  was 
unknown  and  unavailable  greatly  useful  to  mankind.  This 
increase  of  value,  which  is  wholly  due  to  my  labor,  Mr. 
George  says  is  not  mine,  but  belongs  to  those  who  would 
forever  have  left  the  land  in  its  previous  useless  condition. 

As  to  the  matter  of  the  "unearned  increment"  in  the 
value  of  land,  upon  which  so  much  stress  is  laid, —  that  is, 
the  advance  in  value  (where  there  happens  to  be  an  ad- 
vance )  whicli  is  not  the  result  of  any  action  upon  the  part 
of  the  holder,  —  since  so  great  a  man  as  John  Stuart  Mill 
was  beguiled  with  it,  it  is  no  wonder  that  we  of  the  com- 
moner sort  were  for  a  time  in  like  manner  led  astray.  But 
in  what  respect  does  real  estate  differ  in  this  regard  from 
personal  estate  ?  One  man  buys  land,  giving  therefor  the 
highest  price  that  anyone  will  venture  and  assuming  the 
payment  of  all  the  taxes  and  other  charges  thereon  includ- 
ing the  burden  of  interest,  with  the  chance  of  an  advance 
or  a  loss,  that  chance  being  greater  or  less  according  to  his 
shrewdness.  The  tide  of  improvement  turns  that  way  and 
he  reaps  a  profit.  Another  man  buys  beans,  upon  which, 
however,  he  pays  no  taxes.  There  happens  to  be  a  short 
crop  or  a  fire  in  a  great  warehouse ;  the  price  of  beans  is 
advanced  and  he  reaps  an  enormous  profit.  But,  says 
Henry  George,  ''there  is  a  limited  supply  of  land."  Yes, 
we  reply,  and  there  is  a  liinited  supply  of  beans.  The 
reasons  for  the  increment  of  value  are  of  precisely  the  same 


292  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

character.  If  the  people  as  a  whole  are  entitled  to  the 
profit  in  the  one  case  they  are  also  in  the  other,  and  in  both 
cases  they  are  equally  entitled  to  share  the  loss. 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  price  of  agricultural  land  is 
falling  in  all  directions.  The  reports  are  alike  from  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Virginia,  and  other 
States.  The  New  York  assessors  say  that  such  is  the  con- 
dition in  almost  every  county  in  this  State.  The  same  re- 
port comes  from  England.  In  the  southern  part  of  our  own 
Kansas  one  attorney  is  said  to  have  in  his  hands  for  fore- 
closure eighteen  hundred  mortgages.  "Similia  similibus 
curantur,"  cries  Henry  George  in  effect.  "Double  the 
taxes  and  save  them." 

Then,  as  to  the  matter  of  the  deduction  of  the  value 
of  the  improvements.  General  Francis  A.  Walker  writes 
me  that,  according  to  Henry  C.  Carey,  ''  There  is  not 
a  State,  Coimty,  or  Township  in  the  United  States  whose 
selling  price  would  repay  the  amount  actually  laid  out 
in  bringing  the  region  to  its  existing  state  of  cultivation 
and  improvement."  Supposing  that  this  is  not  strict- 
ly so,  any  one  familiar  with  country  districts  must  be 
well  aware  that  the  improvements  upon  the  land  of  the 
poor  farmer  are  much  less  in  value  in  proportion  to  the 
land  than  those  upon  the  land  of  his  rich  neighbor.  The 
system  proposed  would  therefore  fall  with  greatest  weight 
upon  the  })oor.  What  is  the  case  in  the  cities  ?  Our  ordi- 
nary observation  shows  us  that  the  result  would  be  the 
same.  Fortunately,  however,  we  are  not  left  to  depend 
merely  upon  the  rule  of  thumb.  Land  and  buildings  are 
not  assessed  separately  in  Brooklyn  or  New  York,  and  I 
could,  therefore,  get  no  reliable  information  here  from 
official  sources.  From  one  only  of  the  several  real-estate 
dealers  to  whom  I  have  ap])lied  have  I  obtained  any  figures, 
and  an  analysis  of  these  shows  a  considerable  excess  in  the 
proportionate  valuation  of  im])rovemei'its  on  the  land  of 
the  Avealthy,  as  I  had  expected.  In  Massachusetts,  how- 
ever, the  law  requires  a  separate  assessment  of  land  and 
improvements,  at  the  actual  value  of  each.  The  President 
of  the  Board  of  Assessors  of  Boston  has  kindly  made  an 
examination  for  me,  and  sends  me  the  following  results: 

In  the  greater  part  of  Ward  11,  which  is  the  Back  Bay 
District,  the  wealthiest  in  the  city,  the  proportionate  value 
of  land  to  the  total  value,  of  improved  property,  is  48  1-2 


The  Socialistic  Method.  293 

per  cent.  In  Ward  17,  Avhich  is  mainly  occupied  by  a 
prospe:."Ous  and  well-to-do  middle-class,  the  percentage  of 
value  of  land  to  the  total,  in  improved  properties,  is  only 
44  1-7  per  cent.  In  Ward  13,  which  is  occupied  almost 
wholly  by  the  poor,  the  percentage  of  value  of  land  to  the 
total,  in  improved  properties,  is  61  1-3  per  cent. 

Under  the  proposed  benehcent  system  therefore,  the 
very  poor  will  be  courteously  called  upon  to  surrender 
relatively  nearly  39  per  cent,  more  of  their  property 
than  the  well-to-do.  ''But,"  says  the  Single-tax  advo- 
cate, "when  unimproved  land  is  assessed  at  its  actual 
market-value  the  proportions  in  these  valuations  will  all  be 
changed."  To  this  I  am  forced  to  reply,  "not  quite  so  fast, 
my  good  friend.  An  assessment  of  improved  and  unim- 
proved land  at  actual  value  is  no  pecviliarity  of  the  Single- 
tax  system.  As  well  characterize  the  author  of  the  system 
as  peculiarly  a  hatted  man,  because  he  wears  a  hat,  as 
characterize  the  Single-tax  system  by  any  such  feature. 
Such  a  method  of  valuation  is  the  only  proper  method 
according  to  economists  of  various  schools,  and  to  my  per- 
sonal knowledge  was  so  long  before  'Progress  and  Pov- 
erty' was  written.  Moreover,  this  is  precisely  what  is 
now  done  by  law  in  the  City  of  Boston  without  any  such 
marvelous  effect  upon  the  City  or  State  as  you  prophesy, 
and  with  the  result  of  producing  the  figures  which  I  have 
just  given.  Purthermore,  whatever  change  of  value  might 
occur  hereafter,  the  cost  to  those  who  are  despoiled  is  the 
cost  of  their  property  to-day." 

]\Ir.  Henry  George  and  his  followers  have  yet  to  show  that 
there  is  any  conceivable  practicable  method  by  which  their 
single  tax  upon  land,  omitting  the  improvements,  could  be 
collected,  and  that  under  such  a  system  it  would  be  any 
easier  for  a  moneyless  man  to  obtain  possession  of  a  val- 
uable location  than  it  is  to-day. 

Verily  these  gentlemen  have  the  courage  of  their  con- 
victions !  On  a  mere  guess  as  to  what  they  think  might 
happen  under  a  state  of  circumstances  never  yet  seen 
in  a  complicated  society,  they  are  ready  to  bring  down 
upon  the  world  all  that  the  change  which  I  have  in- 
dicated implies,  to  urge  an  act  of  injustice  so  stupen- 
dous that  nothing  in  any  way  comparable  with  it  as 
a  deliberate  proposition  appears  upon  the  pages  of  re- 
corded history.     They  propose  to  deprive  the  owners  of 


294  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

this  right,  on  the  plea  that  somewhere  in  its  past  history 
there  is  a  taint  of  violence,  —  a  point  in  which,  as  I  have 
already  shown,  it  resembles  practically  all  other  jjroperty, 
—  and  they  propose  to  confer  it  upon  whom?  Upon 
those  who  first  occupied  the  land  and  held  it  in  common  ? 
Kot  at  all:  these,  so  far  as  our  country  is  concerned,  were 
the  Indians,  and  the  Indians  still  remain  elsewhere,  having 
been  driven  from  here  by  violence  and  fraud.  Ultenre 
are  these  to  whom  the  value  is  to  be  given  ?  The  answer 
must  here  be  as  in  the  jjoem,  — 

"  Out  of  the  everywhere  into  the  here." 

Yes,  to  stragglers  from  all  parts  of  the  known  world,  who 
have  never  heretofore  had  any  riglit  to  this  land,  whose 
right  if  it  exists  is,  according  to  JNEr.  George's  theory,  founded 
upon  violence  and  fraud,  the  value  of  the  land  which  is  to 
be  wrung  from  those  who  have  honestly  acquired  it  is  to  be 
given.  It  is  proposed  that  the  change  suggested  by  Mr. 
George  might  be  made  gradually.  If  a  man  must  submit 
to  the  loss  of  his  leg  I  am  not  sure  that  theie  is  much  more 
comfort  in  having  it  cut  off  say  an  inch  at  a  time,  once  a 
month,  than  in  having  it  taken  at  one  fell  swoo]). 

The  question  of  taxation,  which  Henry  George  claims  to 
be  such  a  simple  one,  is  on  the  conti-ary  a  very  difficult 
one.  This  is  not  the  tune  to  go  into  that  matter,  and  I  am 
not  competent  to  handle  it  thoroughly  if  it  were.  But  as 
I  may  be  expected  to  suggest  something  I  will  state  two 
principles  which  I  believe  to  be  absolutely  sound,  and  ex- 
press an  opinion  which  I  think  worth  consideration. 

First  Principle:  Taxes  should  be  so  levied  that  their 
amount  and  effect  may  be  clearly  understood.  This  is  not 
the  case  Avith  our  present  protective-tariff  taxes.  If  it  is 
best  to  give  pecuniary  encounigement  to  certain  industries 
- — into  which  question  I  do  not  ])ropose  to  enter  —  the  only 
straightforward  and  honest  way  is  to  pay  a  bounty  for  their 
develojunent  and  prosecution,  and  to  obtain  the  necessary 
funds  by  just  and  equitable  taxation,  the  character  and 
•extent  of  Avhich  is  plain  to  all.  If  the  amount  and  result 
of  all  taxation  were  clearly  understood,  you  may  be  very 
sure  that  the  total  would  soon  be  rapidly  reduced.  We  are 
troubled  by  a  surplus  and  its  consequent  enormous  evils 
simply  because  the  national  taxes  are  levied  in  such  a  way 
that  the  j)ayer  does  not  know  when  or  what  he  is  paying. 


TJie  Socialistic  Method.  295 

Second  Principle :  Taxes  should  be  levied  upon  values 
easily  ascertainable,  and  the  confession  of  the  individual 
taxed  should  not  be  called  for.  This  would  rule  out  all 
income  taxes  levied  upon  the  individual,  the  income  tax 
being  theoretically  perhaps  the  best  and  practically  per- 
haps the  worst  tax  ever  conceived. 

For  the  Opinion :  I  believe  that  the  system  of  taxes 
upon  real  estate  should  be  thoroughly  revised,  and  doubt- 
less in  some  instances  the  taxes  should  be  greatly  increased. 
The  assessments  should  be  as  nearly  as  practicable  upon 
the  actual  value,  as  experience  has  shown  that  any  other 
system  of  assessments  discriminates  in  favor  of  the  rich 
and  against  the  poor.  And  what  further  moneys  may  be 
required  by  the  Government  should  be  obtained  from  levies 
upon  valuable  franchises  of  all  kinds,  upon  articles  the 
consumption  of  which  tends  to  increase  the  cost  of  govern- 
ment, as  alcoholic  drinks,  and  upon  articles  which  are  dis- 
tinctly articles  of  luxury.  Upon  the  first,  because  certain 
privileges  are  granted  by  the  community,  in  the  franchise, 
which  either  tend  to  the  establishment  of  a  monopoly  or  which 
enable  tlie  parties  holding  it  to  conduct  a  certain  business 
Avith  a  limit  to  their  liability  thereunder  (at  an  increased 
risk  to  the  public),  or  both,  for  which  privileges  the  Com- 
monwealth should  be  compensated  ;  upon  the  second,  be- 
cause he  who  dances  should  pay  the  piper ;  upon  the 
third,  because  a  tax  upon  luxuries  does  not  seriously  tend 
to  hamper  production,  as  does  a  tax  upon  necessaries. 
These  are  the  economic  reasons ;  there  are  others  of  impor- 
tance into  which  I  cannot  now  enter. 

The  taxation  levied  by  the  aSTational  Government  in  1880 
wholly  upon  personal  property  was  about  $321,000,000. 
According  to  the  census  of  that  year,  an  imperfect  source 
but  the  best  that  we  have,  the  total  taxation  of  the  States, 
Counties,  Cities,  Towns,  etc.,  was  $312,750,721,  which  was 
derived  from  a  real-estate  valuation  of  $13,036,766,925  and 
a  personal  valuation  of  $3,866,226,618.  The  idiocy  of  the 
present  system  of  taxation  upon  personal  property  will  be 
seen  from  this,  that  in  the  same  year  the  value  of  railroad 
property  was  returned  at  $5,536,419,788,  or  more  than 
forty  per  cent,  in  excess  of  the  total  amount  of  personal 
property  reached  by  assessment.  Some  sapient  Single-tax 
men  class  railroad  property  as  wholly  real  estate,  notwith- 
Btanding  the  fact  that  the  total  value  of  the  real  estate 


296  Evolution  and  Soc'ud  Iteform : 

held  by  the  railroad  companies  in  1880  was  $103,319,845, 
or  less  than  two  per  cent,  of  tlieir  entire  assets.  The 
attempt  to  tax  adequately  a  railroad  corporation  on  the  sole 
ground  of  levying  a  tax  upon  land  values  is  equivalent  to 
using  the  extradition  laws  to  obtain  possession  of  the  per- 
son of  a  man  on  a  charge  of  burglary,  and  then  trying  him 
and  punishing  him  for  high  treason,  an  act  which  is  con- 
demned alike  by  international  law  and  by  the  universal 
sentiment  of  mankind. 

The  single  tax  is  recommended  on  account  of  its  ease 
and  simplicity.  Ease  is  a  good  thing,  simplicity  is  a  good 
thing,  but  neither  that  which  is  easy  nor  that  which  is 
simple  is  always  the  best  thing.  The  easiest  and  simplest 
way  of  getting  rid  of  a  man  who  annoys  you  is  to  shoot 
him.  It  is  generally  thought,  however,  that  ''murder  is  a 
bad  habit  to  get  into."  The  easiest  and  simplest  way  to 
get  rid  of  troublesome  theological  questions  is  to  adopt  a 
creed  which  somebody  has  already  prepared  for  you.  This 
course,  however,  does  not  seem  to  commend  itself  to  those 
who  most  frequent  this  place.  It  is  claimed  by  its  advo- 
cates that  the  simplest  and  easiest  tax  to  collect  is  a  single 
tax  upon  land  values.  But  I  think  that  I  have  sliowni  that 
there  is  no  special  justification  in  history  for  such  an  ex- 
ceptional burden,  while  it  Avould  fall  with  crushing  weight 
upon  those  least  able  to  bear  it.  Were  I  desirous  of  dis- 
covering one  single  measure  which  would  most  help  the 
speculative  rich  at  the  expense  of  the  dependent  poor  and 
most  seriously  damage  the  future  of  the  race, —  which, 
thank  heaven,  I  am  not, —  I  cannot  imagine  that  I  could 
find  any  more  potent  than  the  proposed  confiscation  of  land 
values. 

These  schemes.  Communism,  Socialism,  and  Georgeisni, 
are  all  artificial,  mechanical, —  they  are  not  organic.  You 
have  a  world  infinite  in  its  complexity,  with  a  race  infinite 
in  its  variety.  You  are  conscious  of  incomideteness,  of  great 
inequality:  you  turn  a  crank  (pardon  me  —  no  i)un  was 
intended)  and  lo  !  it  is  all  changed, —  the  world  is  made 
over  and  the  millennium  has  arrived.     When  Hamlet  said, 

"  The  time  is  out  of  joint :  oh,  cursed  spite 
That  ever  I  was  born  to  set  it  right  !" 

he  seems  to  have  felt  opi)ressed  by  the  weight  which  was 
thrown  upon  him.  Not  so  these  modern  reformers.  They 
assume  the  labor  of  performing  the  function  in  which  the 


The  Socialistic  Method.  297 

power  which  inspires  tlie  universe  has  so  signally  failed, 
with  a  jocund  hilarity  which  shows  their  entire  assurance 
that  however  it  may  have  been  with  the  one  that  preceded 
them,  thei/  are  quite  equal  to  the  occasion. 

Whatever  may  have  been  my  feeling  at  the  outset, —  and 
I  am  free  to  say  that,  like  most  persons  at  this  day  Avho 
have  a  keen  interest  in  social  questions,  a  keen  sense  of  the 
inequalities  in  human  life,  the  appalling,  the  crushing 
weight  of  circumstances  upon  the  individual ;  who  have  an 
enthusiastic  desire  for  the  elevation  of  all,  I  approached 
the  study  of  the  question  in  a  hopeful  spirit, —  I  must 
confess  that,  as  the  result  of  careful  study,  I  am  driven  to 
protest  against  the  Socialistic  proposition  with  every  fibre 
of  my  being.  I  cannot  imagine  any  movement  more  in- 
jurious to  the  interests  of  the  race.  It  is  the  very  an- 
tithesis of  equitable  profit-sharing,  the  increasing  tendency 
and  the  most  hopeful  sign  of  the  times,  or  the  volun- 
tary co-operation  of  intelligent  individuals  which  is  the 
essence  of  republican  representative  government, —  that 
co-operation  which  consists  in  common  action  for  the 
common  good,  founded  upon  a  scrupulous  recognition  of  the 
supreme  importance  of  the  maintenance  of  the  most  ab- 
solute liberty  of  each  which  is  compatible  with  the  good 
of  the  whole. 

It  is  held  that  there  are  practically  but  two  alternatives 
—  Individualism,  which  means  "every  man  for  himself  and 
the  devil  take  the  hindmost";  and  Collectivism,  or  every 
man  the  slave  of  those  who  can  obtain  the  power.  There 
is,  I  think,  a  course  quite  different  from  these,  a  course 
which  is  not  properly  to  be  classified  as  an  ism  at  all — but 
if  yovi  must  have  a  name  with  that  termination  you  may  if 
you  please  call  it  Opjiortunism. 

This  is  the  course  which  the  history  of  the  past  every- 
where reveals  to  us,  and  if  we  are  to  judge  of  the  future  by 
the  past  it  is  the  course  which  the  future  must  follow.  It 
means  in  fact,  that  political  and  social  action  are  not  the 
result  of  doctrinal  rules  arbitrarily  worked  oiit,  but  the  out- 
come of  temporary  conditions  which  by  a  complication  of 
forces  produce  a  compound  or  approximate  result.  The  de- 
velopment of  society  follows  the  rule  of  the  development 
of  organic  life :  there  are  lines  of  least  resistance  which  it 
must  folloAv.  The  thoughtful  statesman  or  social  reformer 
examines  carefully  the  history  of  the  past;  he  discovers 
that  in  certain  directions  there  has  been  progress,  and  that 
in  those  directions  ju'ogress  has  resulted  in  ameliorating  the 


298  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

condition  of  the  race.  He  examines  the  present  conditions 
and  decides  according  to  his  best  judgment  whether  upon 
those  lines  there  is  still  room  for  expansion.  If  so,  he  seeks 
favorable  opportunities  for  forward  movement — one  step  at 
a  time — acknowledging  that  the  far  future  is  far  beyond 
his  ken.  and  only  conscious  of  the  possibilities  of  the  im- 
mediate present.  Thus  his  voluntary  action,  itself  a  result 
of  development,  becomes  a  factor  in  that  development  and 
itself  assists  in  the  trend  of  the  race.  His  imagination  has 
impressed  him  with  the  idea  of  equality  of  opportunity,  and 
he  seeks  to  establish  that  equality.  He  sees  that  all  prog- 
ress in  the  past  has  been  the  result  of  individual  progress. 
He  sees  that  that  which  encourages  the  development  of  the 
individual  not  only  strengthens  him  but  enables  him  to  be- 
come a  valuable  member  of  the  community.  That  which 
discourages  that  development  wrecks  both  the  individual 
and  the  community.  He  therefore  sees  that  whatever  changes 
are  encouraged  or  permitted,  the  freedom  of  individual  action 
should  be  preserved  so  far  as  that  may  be  jiossible. 

A  recent  lecturer  in  this  course  said  that  certainty  of 
income  was  the  great  desideratum.  Certainty  is  indeed  a 
good  thing,  but  it  is  not  the  best  thing.  It  is  the  something 
beyond,  the  contingent,  the  uncertain,  the  prize  in  every 
package,  that  inspires  to  forth-putting,  to  progress.  When 
the  imagination  was  born,  then  came  the  man.  There  is 
no  pla(!e  for  the  imagination  in  socialistic  schemes.  It  is 
that  which  insi)ires  the  schemers  themselves,  which  gives 
all  the  vitality  there  is  supposed  to  be  in  their  schemes,  but 
with  the  success  of  their  schemes  the  imagination  dies. 

What,  then,  is  my  scheme  ?  I  have  no  scheme  —  God  for- 
bid. I  do  not  know  whither  we  are  going — nor  do  you,  my 
good  brother.  We  stand  in  reverent  awe  in  the  presence  of 
the  transcendent  })ower  which  surrounds  and  possesses  us,  a 
})ower  so  transcendent  that  words  cannot  express  or  thouglits 
conceive  it.  We  touch  it  at  every  point  —  are  a  part  of  its 
extension,  if  I  may  use  so  crude  a  word  —  and  know  that 
nothing  is  which  is  not  also  a  part.  We  feel  the  pulses  of 
that  life  moving  not  in  one  only  but  in  all  directions,  and 
ever  developing  greater  variety,  greater  complexity.  We 
surrender  ourselves  with  serene  assurance  to  that  power. 
Do  you  call  this  a  sublimated  Fatalism  ?  l*erhai)s  it  is  that, 
but  if  so  it  has  none  of  the  dangerous  featxires  of  the  Fatal- 
ism of  the  ])ast.  And  wlietlier  it  be  Fatalism  or  not, — call 
it  what  you  will, —  it  is  \\w  condition  in  Avhich  you  and  I 
find  ourselves  and  from  which  there  is  no  escape.  Moreover, 
why  should  we  deoire  to  escape  '.'    Our  rearward  view  shows 


The  Socialistic  Method.  299 

us  an  ever  widening  track  with  ever  higher  organization  and 
attainment ;  and  if  we  surrender  ourselves  to  this  illimitable 
power  we  do  so  only  in  a  form  of  words,  for  we  are  born 
therein,  therein  have  our  growth,  and  the  work  which  is  still 
to  be  done  can  only  be  accomplished  through  our  co-opera- 
tion :  we  have  no  fear  of  yielding  ourselves  to  the  ciirrent 
for  we  are  a  part  of  the  current.  Looking  into  the  past  we 
see  dimly  whence  the  stream  has  come.  Regarding  the 
present  we  see  over  its  ever  broadening  expanse  eddies 
around  obstacles  here  and  there,  but  nevertheless  the  current 
is  ever  flowing  onward  toward  the  golden  haze  which  shrovids 
the  future  —  and  we  see  with  absolvite  assurance  that  for 
that  portion  of  the  eternal  power  which  flows  through  us 
there  is  only  one  proper  application,  and  that  is  toward  the 
removal  of  the  obstacles  which  vex  the  current  at  our  feet. 

When  I  express  my  dissent  from  this  scheme  or  that 
scheme  for  the  reconstruction  of  human  society  according 
to  the  only  true  and  reliable  method  for  the  attainment  of 
millennial  conditions,  its  advocate  immediately  retorts  with 
just  indignation, — "Then  you  are  satisfied  with  things  as 
they  are  and  wish  the  present  conditions  to  continue."  Sat- 
isfied with  things  as  they  are  ?  The  Time-Spirit  says  of 
the  present  order,  •'  An  ill-favored  thing,  sir,  but  mine  own," 
yet,  unless  I  have  sadly  misjudged  the  course  of  evolution, 
the  very  fact  that  things  are  as  they  are  is  the  most  conchi- 
sive  proof  which  it  would  be  possible  to  have  that  they  will 
be  different  hereafter.  Satisfied  with  things  as  they  are  ? 
Satisfied  with  misery  and  want  and  wretchedness  ?  Satis- 
fied with  the  rule  of  ignorance,  incapacity,  and  corriiption  ? 
Satisfied  with  teachings  by  blatant  demagogues  or  one- 
sided advocates  ?  Satisfied  with  sophisticated  foods,  filthy 
streets,  hideous  buildings,  squalid  hovels,  unfaithful  labor, 
ers,  unjust  employers,  devastated  fields  and  meadows,  tree- 
stripped  mountains,  ugliness  and  vulgarity  and  bad  manners 
without  limit  ?  He  must  be  a  singularly  constituted  man 
who  could  be  satisfied  with  these  things.  And  it  is  the 
people  Avho  do  these  things  or  profit  by  them  or  who  permit 
them  to  be  done,  after  a  race-life  of  probably  more  than 
oOOjOOO  years,  who — or  their  immediate  descendants — I  am 
asked  to  believe,  will  in  one  hundred  years  or  one  thousand 
years  luive  siiffered  "a  sea  change  into  something  rich  and 
strange";  will  have  cast  off  all  their  old  characteristics  and 
their  old  ways,  will  have  put  on  righteousness  as  a  garment, 
will  have  become  permeated  by  a  sense  of  beauty  and  come- 
liness, will  be  animated  all  by  a  common  desire  for  the  com- 
mon good!     And  all  this  is  to  result  from  —  what?     From 


300  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

their  submitting  their  wills  to  the  absolute  domination  of  a 
universal  democracy  coni])osed  of  the  material  which  I  have 
indicated- — represented  by  such  public  officers  as  may  have 
succeeded  in  procuring  an  election  —  and  compelled  to  sur- 
render their  volition  in  all  important  resi)ects,  as  to  habita- 
tion, occupation,  thought  and  speech,  to  the  will  of  these. 
This  is  to  be  the  outcome  of  civilization  —  this  the  consum- 
mation so  devoutly  to  be  wished  ! 

T  am  no  ])rophet,  and  I  shall  not  attem})t  prophecy.  I 
only  know  this,  that  this  which  1  have  depicted  will  not 
be;  and  thank  God  for  so  much.  I  know  that  it  Avill  not 
be,  because  there  has  never  been  a  stage  in  the  ]n'ogress  of 
mankind  or  the  universe  Avhich  has  not  been  absolutely  at 
variance  with  such  a  possibility ;  there  is  not  a  fact  in  exist- 
ing conditions  which  ])oints  to  a  realization  of  such  a  state 
of  society  in  any  positive  and  permanent  sense. 

I  have  pictured  the  shortcomings  of  the  jjresent  with  no 
dainty  tovxch.  Do  I  then  feel  that  we  have  made  no  progress 
in  the  past '/  that  there  is  no  h()})e  in  the  future  ? 

I  look  back  through  the  ages  until  I  seem  to  see  naught 
but  a  nebidous  haze.  I  see  that  haze  gradually  differenti- 
ating through  infinite  time  until  suns  and  planets  are  evolved, 
— the  mineral  takes  organic  form,  the  organic  develops  into 
vegetable  and  animal,  the  pi'otista  by  \innumbered  stages 
give  birth  at  last  to  primitive  man.  I  see  the  growth  of 
man  from  the  birth  of  intellect  to  the  era  of  Emerson,  of 
Spencer,  of  ])ar\vin.  of  Edison.  Have  we  made  no  ])rogress  ? 
\Vhat  is  this  i)anorama  which  I  have  spread  before  you? 
We  are  where  we  are.  We  have  (mr  place  in  the  line  of 
march.  A\'e  have  not  yet  drunk  life  to  the  lees,  but  with 
ever  increasing  diversity  are  ever  realizing  a  more  entire 
oneness  and  mutual  resi)onsibility,  and  in  ever  increasing 
numbers  are  appreciating  that  bound  up  with  the  interest 
of  eac^h  one  is  the  interest  of  the  Avhole,  and  bound  up  in 
the  interest  of  the  whole  is  that  of  each  one.  No  pent  \\\> 
Utica  can  exhaust  our  ])owers,  no  scheme  is  large  enough, 
elaborate  enough,  or  sufficiently  far-reaching  to  satisfy  the 
coming  race.  All  methods  are  the  methods  of  the  divine, 
and  we  reach  forward  in  the  confident  ho])e,  the  confi- 
dent belief,  that  the  race  can  only  attain  the  highest  goal 
through  the  jK'rfect  develojmient  of  the  individual  soul. 
And 

"all  experience  is  an  arcli  wheretlirough 
CJleanis  that  nntraveled  world  whose  margin  fades 
Forever  and  forever  when  1  move." 


EVOLUTION  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 
III.  THE  ANARCHISTIC  METHOD. 


BY 

HUGH  O.   PENTECOST 
Editor  of  "The  Twentieth  Cextuey." 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED, 

Spencer's  "Principles of  Sociology,"  "Social  Statics,"  and  "The 
Man  versus  the  State";  Prudhon's  "What  is  Property?"  and 
"  Idee  Gen^rale  de  la  Revolution  au  19me  Si^cle  " ;  Brown's  "  Stud- 
ies in  Modern  Socialism" ;  Sumner's  "What  Social  Classes  owe  to 
Each  Other";  Mill's  "On  Liberty";  Lieber's"On  Civil  Liberty 
and  Self-Government " ;  Huxley's  "Administrative  Nihilism"; 
Stephen's  "Liberty,  Equality  and  Fraternity";  Crosier's  "Civil- 
ization and  Progress";  Thompson's  "Social  Progress";  James's 
"Anarchy";  Parsons' s  "Anarchism:  Its  Philosophy  and  Scien- 
tific Basis" ;  Bakounine's  "  God  and  the  State"  ;  Andrews's  "  The 
Science  of  Society" ;  Tchernichewsky's  "What's  to  be  Done  ?  " 

(302) 


EVOLUTION    AND    SOCIAL    REFORM.* 


III.     THE    ANARCHISTIC    METHOD. 

Those  who  accept  the  conclusions  of  Anarchism  believe 
that  it  is  a  science ;  or,  if  you  please,  a  philosophy  sup- 
ported by  facts  scientifically  discovered  and  collated.  It  is 
not  a  religion  based  upon  assumptions,  unwarranted  or 
contradicted  by  facts.  It  is  not  a  system  of  metaphysics 
consisting  of  undemonstrable  speculations.  They  freely 
admit  that  Sociology  is  not  yet  an  exact  science ;  that, 
strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  Science  of  Society.  But  they 
speak  of  Anarchism  as  a  science  because  its  methods  of 
investigation  and  accomplishment  are  scientific.  In  so  far 
as  it  represents  conclusions  they  have  been  reached  scien- 
tifically. If  Anarchists  have  a  theory  it  is  because  they 
believe  observed  facts  are  best  explained  by  that  theory. 
If  a  theory  does  not  well  account  for  observed  facts  it  is 
abandoned,  and  a  new  working  hypothesis  is  sought.  They 
do  not  pursue  the  theologic  or  metaphysical  method  in 
formulating  their  postulates. 

Anarchists  believe  there  should  be  no  government :  by 
which  they  mean  no  government  by  j)hysical  force ;  no 
government  to  prevent  persons  from  thinking,  saying  or 
doing  what  they  should  be  free  to  think,  say  or  do ;  no 
government  for  the  encouragement  of  those  who  invade 
what  should  be  the  rights  of  others,  with  the  protection  of 
such  invaders  ;  no  government  to  authorize  a  few  to  monop- 
olize what  should  be  the  opportunities  of  all ;  no  govern- 
ment to  compel  persons  to  do  what  they  should  be  free  to 
refuse  to  do,  what  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  good  of  all 
that  they  should  do;  no  government  in  favor  of  one  class 
as  against  another  class ;  no  government  to  enrich  the  idle 
by  impoverishing  the  industrious.  They  believe  there 
should  be  no  government  that  interferes  with  wholesome 
individual  liberty  and  wealth-producing  exertion.  But 
they  believe  in  well-ordered  society,  in  which  the  wise,  the 
just,  the  good  will  rule  by  precepts,  principles  and  ex- 
amples ;  in  which  healthful  public  opinion  will  utter  and 

*  Copyright,  1890,  by  James  H.  West. 


304  Evolution  and  Social  Reform  : 

morally  enforce  everything  needful  for  restraint  or  encour- 
agenieut.  They  believe  in  government,  but  not  government 
by  physical  force  for  the  injury  of  all,  or,  to  use  a  common 
expression  which  means  the  same,  for  unjust  purposes. 
They  believe  in  self-control  and  mutuality. 

An  Anarchist  is  not  one  who  wishes  to  separate  himself 
from  his  kind,  to  live  independently,  to  lapse  into  the 
individual  isolation  of  the  Stone  Age.  He  is  an  individual- 
ist, but  also  a  socialist,  a  mutualist.  He  understands  that 
civilized  men  must  co-operate,  that  co-operation  is  a  social 
necessity.  But  he  wishes  to  co-operate  voluntarily ;  to 
have  the  privilege  of  declining  to  co-operate  in  one  or  more 
or  all  particulars  ;  of  resigning  the  benefits  and  obligations 
of  co-operation.  He  values  individual  freedom  above  all 
other  possessions,  and  protests  against  any  organization  of 
society  in  which  it  is  not  recognized  and  respected.  He 
does  not  wish  another  or  a  njajority  of  others  to  decide  for 
him  what  he  shall  or  shall  not  do,  unless  he  agrees  before- 
hand to  such  an  arrangement.  If  he  wishes  to  live  apart 
from  others  he  desires  to  be  allowed  to  do  so.  He  believes 
in  society  composed  of  individuals  each  of  whom  shall  be 
free  from  invasive  restraints  or  compulsions.  It  should  be 
understood  that  Anarchists  abhor  the  idea  of  using  individ- 
ual liberty  for  the  purpose  of  injuring  others,  and  they 
believe  that  in  society  rightly  constituted  there  would  be 
found  effective  methods  of  dealing  with  those  who  should 
violate  the  rights  or  liberties  of  others. 

It  should  be  understood  from  this  statement  of  general 
principles  that  Anarchists  are  not  bomb-throwers  —  dyna- 
miters. There  are  some  persons  wlio  call  themselves 
Anarchists  Xvho  believe  that  circumstances  might  arise 
which  would  justify  a  resort  to  destructive  warfare,  and 
that  good  results  would  follow  such  a  method,  l^ut,  in  my 
opinion,  the  clearest  thinkers,  tlie  most  scientihc  among 
the  Anarchists,  understand  that  what  might  be  achieved 
by  physical  force  would  be  siibject  to  reversal  by  physical 
force,  and  would,  therefore,  have  to  be  conserved  by  physi- 
cal force.  In  my  opinion,  the  most  careful  thinkers  among 
the  Anarchists  uiulerstand  that  if  some  transient  "tidal- 
wave"  of  popular  opinion,  formed  rapidly  and  by  what  we 
call  accident,  or  some  sudden  uprising  of  the  peo])le,  in- 
flamed by  discontent  but  not  educated  in  economic  prin- 
ciples, as  m  the  case  of   the  French  llevolution,  should 


The  Anarchistic  Method.  305 

enable  them  by  political  methods  or  force  of  arms  to  secure 
control  of  the  government,  little  or  nothing  would  be 
gained  and  much  might  be  lost.  So  that  the  life  of  even 
so  hateful  a  ruler  as  the  Czar  is  safe  from  attack  by  an 
Anarchist,  because  it  is  not  the  Czar  but  Czarism  that  must 
die  before  the  people  can  be  free ;  and  no  Anarchist  would 
think  of  destroying  the  property  or  life  of  a  monopolist, 
for  it  is  monopolism  that  is  aimed  at,  and  this  can  be 
destroyed  only  by  education.  Anarchists  do  not  iight  with 
bombs,  but  with  books ;  nor  with  pistols,  bvit  with  pens. 
They  are  not  thugs ;  they  are  thinkers.  Not  powder,  but 
persuasion,  is  their  weapon.  Not  by  cannon,  but  by  con- 
victions, do  they  hope  to  win. 

Among  non- Anarchists  who  are  sufficiently  well  informed 
to  understand  all  this,  the  objection  is  urged  that  Anarchism 
is  a  beautiful  but  utterly  impracticable  dream.  The 
realization  of  Anarchism,  it  is  said,  would  introduce  the 
millennium ;  and,  strange  to  say,  this  is  a  reason  why 
multitudes  of  Christians  who  profess  to  be  looking  forward 
toward  the  millennium  with  all  the  fervor  of  religious  hope 
regard  Anarchists  with  aversion  or  contempt.  It  is  quite 
true  that  to  reach  an  ideally  Anarchistic  social  state  would 
necessitate  ideally  perfect  individuals.  But  Anarchists  are 
not  idealists.  They  are  the  reverse  of  idealists.  Every 
theory  has  its  ideal  of  perfect  consummation.  But  An- 
archists do  not  expect  perfection.  Perfection  is  not 
necessary  to  the  happy  and  relatively  satisfactory  working 
of  Anarchism. 

Anarchists  are  not  dreamers,  however  much  they  may  be 
so  regarded  by  those  who  do  not  understand  their  beliefs 
and  aims.  They  regard  themselves  as  very  rational,  very 
practical  persons.  They  believe  their  theories  may,  in 
many  particulars,  be  put  in  practice  at  once ;  that  some  of 
them  are  in  operation ;  and  that  wherever  they  are  em- 
ployed the  results  are  more  satisfactory  than  where  opposite 
methods  are  pursued.  For  example :  Fashions  are  followed 
by  the  Anarchistic  method.  Men,  without  governmental 
interference,  wear  narrow  or  wide  trousers,  and  women 
short  or  long  skirts.  And  this  is  a  distinct  advance  toward 
Anarchism,  as  everyone  familiar  with  the  governmental 
regulations  of  clothing  in  the  past  knows.  Men  are  not 
governmentally  compelled  to  lift  their  hats  to  women  or 
keep  to  the  right  on  the  sidewalk,  but  they  usually  do  both. 


306  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

An  ideal  state  of  society  in  miniature  may  be  seen  in  every 
drawing-room  where  ladies  and  gentlemen,  as  we  call  well- 
bred  men  and  women,  come  together  for  social  intercourse. 
There  is  no  compulsion.  They  talk,  dance,  eat  and  drink; 
groups  form  and  disperse;  individuals,  with  freedom  and 
polite  regard  for  the  riglits  of  others,  move  about,  come 
and  go.  And  if  one  habitually  disregards  the  proprieties 
of  such  assemblages  he  is  not  arrested  and  dragged  to 
prison  ;  he  is  dealt  with  far  more  effectively ;  he  is  not 
invited  to  come  again  ;  he  is  dropped,  shunned,  boycotted. 
The  "four  hundred"  as  well  as  the  Irish  peasantry  know 
the  value  of  the  boycott. 

The  New  York  Grocers'  Association  is  an  almost  purely 
Anarchistic  institution,  and  may  be  used  as  one  example  of 
many.  I  am  informed  that  the  wholesale  grocers  of  New 
York  have  lost  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  governmental  laws 
for  the  collection  of  debts,  and  have  formed  an  Association 
which  has  proved  very  satisfactory  in  its  results,  to  protect 
themselves  against  loss  by  bad  debts.  They  no  longer 
depend  upon  governmental  machinery.  If  a  debtor  to  any 
grocery  house  in  New  York  exhibits  signs  of  business 
weakness  or  lack  of  integrity  he  is  visited  by  a  represent- 
ative of  the  Association.  If  this  A'isit  has  no  salutary 
effect  upon  him  it  becomes  impossible  for  him  to  buy  goods, 
except  for  cash,  anywhere  in  New  York.  That  is  all  that 
happens  to  him;  but  out-of-town  buyers  are  said  to  be 
much  more  afraid  of  the  Grocers'  Association  than  of  the 
government.  The  staid  business-men  of  New  York  who 
compose  this  Association  would,  perhaps,  be  shocked  to 
know  that,  in  one  particular,  they  are  true  Anarchists ;  but 
such  is  the  fact.  Their  Association  does  not  serve  them 
with  ideal  perfection,  but  it  is  better  for  tliem  than  the 
system  of  collecting  debts  by  i)hysical  force.  And  this  is 
all  that  Anarchists  claim  for  their  proposed  arrangement 
of  society :  that  it  is  practicable,  that  it  is  better  than 
government  by  physical  force,  and  that  it  is  capable  of 
constantly  approaching  ideal  perfection. 

Let  us  now  glance  briefly  at  the  economic  princijdes  of 
Anarchism. 

Anarchists  regard  ])overty  as  the  misfortune  that  causes 
most  of  the  uuhappiness  and  (irime  with  which  the  human 
race  is  afflicted.  I  do  not,  of  course,  mean  that  poverty 
which  individuals  might,  unch'r  any  social  system,  choose 


The  Anarchistic  Method.  307 

to  suffer  rather  than  practise  virtue  and  self-control  or 
labor  for  the  production  of  wealth.  I  mean  involuntary 
poverty ;  that  poverty  which  is  now,  in  spite  of  the  virtue, 
self-control  and  industry  of  the  poor,  so  prevalent.  Many 
persons  are  skeptical  concerning  the  existence  of  such 
poverty.  It  is  commonly  believed  that  no  one  not  intem- 
perate or  thriftless  need  be  poor.  But  it  is  only  necessary 
to  open  one's  eyes  to  see  that  there  are  millions  of  human 
beings  in  this  and  all  countries  who  labor  unceasingly  only 
to  find  that  their  poverty  increases.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
dwell  upon  a  fact  so  patent.  Everywhere  children  are 
taken  from  school  or  play  to  labor  in  factories  and  mines ; 
else  why  the  futile  statutes  against  child-labor  ?  Every- 
where is  heard  the  hum  of  sewing-machines  from  which 
hollow-chested  women  drop  into  the  Potter's  Field;  else 
why  all  the  kind-hearted  charitable  work  among  the 
"worthy  poor"  ? 

This  social  disease  of  poverty  Anarchists  believe  will 
disappear  when  its  causes  are  generally  understood.  And 
they  believe  its  causes  are  much  better  understood  by  a  few 
than  the  causes  of  small-pox  or  cholera  are  understood  by 
any ;  and  that  they  are  removable.  They  believe  that  what 
are  popularly  supposed  to  be  its  causes  —  ignorance  of  what 
is  taught  in  the  schools,  idleness,  drunkenness  and  crime  — 
are  its  effects ;  and  that,  hence,  to  attempt  to  remove  it  by 
compulsory  education  in  the  common  schools,  charity- 
organization  societies,  model  tenement-houses  and  reforma- 
tories, however  well-meant  such  attempts  may  be  and 
undoubtedly  are,  is  to  necessarily  fail.  The  cause  of  invol- 
untary poverty,  Anarchists  believe,  is  the  taking  away 
from  the  laboring  people  —  the  producers  of  wealth  —  a 
large  part  of  what  they  produce.  This  is  accomplished  by 
methods  not  understood  without  much  observation  and 
reflection  but  easily  perceived  by  open-minded  thinkers. 

Anyone  can  see  that  there  are  many  persons  in  every 
community  who  do  no  productive  work.  Such  persons 
must  be  supported  by  what  others  j)roduce,  since  there  is 
no  other  fund  from  which  they  may  draw.  Beggars  and 
tramps  are  a  drain  upon  the  wealth  of  the  industrious. 
Thieves  break  through  and  steal  what  others  earn. 
Gamblers  of  all  kinds  subsist  upon  what  others  produce ; 
and  so  do  the  inmates  of  poor-houses  and  prisons.  This  is 
plain  to  all.     Policemen,  soldiers,  and  high-priced  govern- 


308  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

ment-officials  whose  services  are  not  worth  to  the  com- 
munity what  they  get  for  them,  are  certainly  not  producers, 
and  whether  they,  in  part,  serve  good  purposes  or  not  it 
remains  the  same  that  producers  are  forcibly  taxed  for 
their  support.  Workers  are  compelled  to  give  up  their 
wealth  to  support  law-makers  and  professional  destroyers 
of  property  and  life.  All  this  is  evident  notwithstanding 
that  part  of  it,  however  unfortunate,  is  inevitable  in  the 
present  state  of  social  development. 

But  besides  these  are  other  large  numbers  of  persons  who 
receive  what  they  do  not  produce.  Those  whose  incomes 
are  wholly  or  partly  derived  from  buying  and  selling  land 
are  regarded  by  Anarchists,  in  so  far  as  they  are  dealers  in 
land,  as  subsisting  upon  wealth  produced  by  the  labor  of 
others.  And  to  this  class  of  persons  belong  all  those  who 
collect  rents  —  that  is,  those  who  receive  for  the  use  of 
their  houses,  machinery  or  other  personal  eifects  an  excess 
of  price  over  and  above  what  is  required  to  cover  compul- 
sory taxes,  insurance  and  necessary  repairs  upon  such 
property. 

Those,  also,  whose  incomes  are  wholly  or  partly  derived 
from  interest,  or  the  rent  of  money,  are  regarded  by 
Anarchists,  as  appropriating  what  others  produce.  And  so, 
too,  are  those  who,  in  buying  and  selling  or  manufacturing 
for  sale,  receive  as  the  result  of  such  production  and 
exchange  more  than  what  would  fairly  compensate  them  in 
the  form  of  wages  for  their  actual  labor  in  superintending, 
producing  or  exchanging. 

In  plain  words.  Anarchists  regard  rent-takers,  or  land- 
lords, interest-takers,  or  what  Mr.  J.  K.  Ingalls  calls  lend- 
lords,  and  profit-takers,  or  trade-lords,  as  social  parasites. 
Or,  in  other  words,  Anarchists  believe,  and  think  they  can 
scientifically  prove,  that  anyone  who  receives  in  the  })rocess 
of  wealth-distribution  more  than  what  re})resents  fair 
wages  for  productive  labor  —  that  is,  more  than  he  actually 
produces  —  ai)propriates  something  that  should  belong  to 
others,  and  thereby  helps  to  bind  a  load  of  inevitable 
poverty  upon  those  who  are  thus  defrauded  of  the  fruits 
of  their  industry. 

Let  us  look,  for  a  moment,  from  the  Anarchistic  stand- 
point, at  the  grounds  for  this  belief. 

Land  is  un])roduced.  It  is  not  the  result  of  human 
labor.     It  is  what  is  sometimes  called   a   natural    oi)p()i- 


The  Anarchistic  Method.  309 

tunity.  It  is  the  passive  factor  in  the  production  of 
wealth.  Like  air  and  water  it  is  an  absolute  necessity  of 
human  life.  When  man  appeared,  like  the  open  air  and 
water  running  in  the  streams  or  bubbling  from  the  springs, 
it  was  free  to  access  by  him.  Anarchists  believe  that  if, 
from  the  beginning  of  human  exertions  upon  this  planet, 
each  man  had  been  content  to  possess  and  control  only  so 
much  land  as  he  could  productively  use,  the  supply  of  land 
free  for  use  always  would  have  been  and  now  would  be 
practically  as  unlimited  as  the  supply  of  air  and  running 
water,  and  that,  therefore,  it  never  would  have  commanded 
a  price  and  would  not  now  be  \  thing  to  buy  and  sell. 
They  believe  that  the  practice  of  owning  land  that  one 
cannot  and  does  not  Avish  to  use,  excluding  others  from  its 
use,  has  given  rise  to  rent,  or  the  price  of  land ;  or,  to  put 
it  in  other  words,  that  the  monopoly  of  vacant  or  unused 
land  is  the  cause  of  rent.  Rent,  therefore,  does  not  repre- 
sent work  performed  or  wealth  produced  by  the  rent-taker. 
It  represents  wealth  transferred  from  a  producer  to  a  non- 
producer  as  the  price  of  a  privilege  that  should  be  absolutely 
free  to  all.  It  is  evident  that  rent-takers,  as  such,  are 
idlers.  They  produce  nothing.  If,  then,  they  subsist  it 
must  be  at  the  expense  of  those  who  labor.  And  by  just 
so  much  as  they  are  rich  others  must  necessarily  be  poor. 
Rent  is  a  tribute  that  public  opinion  permits  non-producers 
to  levy  upon  producers  by  the  simple  contrivance  of  holding 
large  quantities  of  land  out  of  use. 

The  same  reasoning  applies  when  we  turn  to  the  subject 
of  interest.  Rent  is  the  product  of  labor  paid  to  idlers  for 
the  use  of  land.  Interest  is  the  product  of  labor  paid  to 
idlers  for  the  use  of  money.  Rent  is  interest  for  land ; 
interest  is  rent  for  money.  Both  are  the  products  of 
monopoly.  Money  is  as  necessary  to  a  complicated  system 
of  trade  as  air,  water  and  land  are  to  life.  If  the  supply 
of  money  Avere  always  equal  to  the  demand  for  it  as  an 
implement  of  exchange,  each  person  would  always  have  as 
much  of  it  as  Avould  represent  labor  directly  performed  or 
products  of  labor  surrendered  by  him.  The  only  use  that 
money  should  have  is  to  indicate  that  so  much  labor  has 
been  directly  performed  or  so  much  wealth  surrendered  by 
the  possessor  of  it;  and  its  value  is  in  that  it  Avill  insure 
to  its  possessor  the  return  of  a  corresponding  amount  of 
service  or  wealth  upon  demand.     It  is  not    in    the  least 


310  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

necessary  that  it  should  possess  any  intrinsic  value  other 
than  that  of  the  paper  on  which  it  is  writteu  or  printed  and 
the  labor  of  writing  or  printing  it. 

If  men  had  been  sufficiently  intelligent  from  the  start,  a 
perfect  system  of  money  would  have  grown  Avith  the 
growth  of  society,  and  each  person  always  would  have  had 
])recisely  as  much  money  as  he  deserved,  because  he  Avould 
not  have  parted  with  labor  or  its  products  without  getting 
a  full  representative  equivalent  in  money,  unless  the 
transaction  were  made  by  the  simple  process  of  barter,  in 
which  case  exchange  would  be  made  in  kind.  All  this  will 
be  more  or  less  unintelligible  to  the  average  conservative 
person,  but  it  will,  I  think,  become  plain  to  anyone  who 
will  thoughtfully  read  Stephen  Pearl  Andrews'  '•  Science 
of  Society,"  especially  that  portion  of  the  work  devoted 
to  the  principle  therein  formulated  as  ''Cost  the  Limit  of 
Price,"  the  original  discovery  of  Avhich.  Mr.  Andrews 
ascribes  to  Josiah  Warren,  Avith  whose  works  I  am  not 
familiar.  To  this  book,  the  "  Science  of  Society,"  I  am 
indebted  for  clear  and  satisfactory  ideas  of  the  true  nature 
and  uses  of  money. 

But  contrary  to  all  this  men  have  adopted  certain 
materials  for  money,  the  su})ply  of  Avhich,  relative  to  the 
demand,  is  very  limited;  and  even  when  ])aper  is  used  for 
money  a  very  insufficient  quantity  is  permitted  to  circulate, 
being  sometimes  greater  and  sometimes  less,  but  always 
under  the  control  of  persons  who  make  their  living  by 
handling  it,  and  by  whose  manipulations  producers  are 
see-sawed  out  of  their  earnings.  Money  is  monopolized. 
It  is  "cornered."  It  frequently  happens  that  a  man  has 
much  valuable  })roperty  but  no  money.  Such  a  man  is 
obliged  to  go  to  those  who  control  the  supply  of  money 
and  hire  what  he  needs  at  rates  of  interest  which  could 
not  and  would  not  exist  if  money  were  not  monopolized. 

Tlie  ])oint  is  this  :  Anarcliists  believe  tiiat  as  rent  would 
not  be  a  natural  product  of  harmoniously  organized  soci- 
<'ty,  neither  would  interest.  They  clearly  see  that  interest- 
takers,  as  such,  are  non-producers,  and  that,  therefore,  wliat 
they  subsist  on  must  in  some  unjust  way  have  been  taken 
from  the  industrious  ])ersons  who  })roduced  it. 

With  regard  to  ])rofits,  Anarchists  believe  that  in  a  fair 
■exchange  of  goods  for  goods  there  will  be  gain  to  l)otli 
parties  to  the  bargain  but  "  profit'"  to  neither.      If   I   want 


The  Anarchistic  Method.  311 

your  cow  more  than  I  want  my  own  horse  and  you  want 
my  horse  more  than  you  want  your  own  cow  we  exchange 
beasts.  We  each,  by  the  trade,  gain  something,  but  neither 
makes  a  "profit."  Profit  is  not  as  easily  separable  from 
wages  as  interest  or  rent,  because  what  is  called  wages  of 
superintendence  is  an  uncertain  quantity ;  but  it  may  be, 
nevertheless,  accurately  defined  as  that  portion  of  the 
manufacturer's  or  merchant's  income  over  and  above  what 
he  should  receive  as  compensation  for  labor  actually  per- 
formed by  him.  And  Anarchists  believe  that  if  the  land 
and  money  monopolies  were  broken,  profits  would  dis- 
appear. This  needs  further  explanation,  but  the  limits  of 
this  address  do  not  admit  of  it.  I  must  leave  it  for  your 
future  reflection  or  study,  if  you  are  not  already  familiar 
with  the  line  of  thought  involved. 

Anarchists  believe,  then,  that  poverty  results  from  the 
existence  of  social  parasites  —  persons  who  perform  no 
productive  labor  and  who  are  therefore,  necessarily,  sup- 
ported out  of  what  laborers  produce.  These  social  para- 
sites are  thieves  at  liberty,  criminals  in  prison,  gamblers, 
whether  with  cards,  dice  or  stocks ;  sharpers,  whether 
confidence-men  or  business-men  ;  ■  paupers,  whether  abroad 
or  in  poor-houses ;  policemen,  when  in  excess  of  actual 
need  for  the  protection  of  property  and  life ;  soldiers, 
unless  actually  necessary  to  repel  invasion ;  collectors  of 
compulsory  taxes ;  politicians  and  law-makers,  unless  we 
are  to  reject  the  time-honored  belief  of  many  of  the  wisest 
and  best  of  men  that  government  by  force  is,  at  best,  a 
"necessary  evil";  rent-takers,  interest-takers  and  profit- 
takers,  except  in  so  far  as  it  can  be  scientifically  proven 
that  rent,  interest  and  profits  are  the  necessary  outcome  of 
absolutely  free  contracts  between  persons  as  free  as  indi- 
viduals ever  can  be  under  any  possible  arrangement  of 
society. 

In  my  opinion,  the  most  thoughtful  Anarchists  are 
agreed  that,  in  any  possible  arrangement  of  society,  sporadic 
cases  of  rent,  interest  and  profits  might  arise,  but  the 
amounts  involved  would  be  too  insignificant  for  serious 
consideration  and  the  transactions  would  represent  no 
injustice  whatever.  But  as  all  these  social  parasites  are 
the  products  of  a  social  arrangement  that  legitimates  rent, 
interest  and  profits.  Anarchists  believe  that  involuntary 
poverty  is  the  necessary  outcome   of,  and   is    completely 


312  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

accounted  for  by,  the  existence  of  rent,  interest  and 
profits.  These,  therefore,  must  disappear  before  tlie  h\;nian 
race  can  be  free,  wealthy  and  happy.  With  their  dis- 
appearance secondary  causes  of  poverty  will  naturally 
cease. 

This  explains  the  opposition  of  Anarchists  to  govern- 
ment by  physical  force.  They  know  that  those  bits  of 
paper  by  which  non-users  hold  land  vacant  are  legal  docu- 
ments. They  know  that  if  laborers  should  attempt  to 
exercise  what  should  be  their  right,  by  taking  possession  of 
vacant  land  for  productive  use,  the  whole  machinery  of 
government  by  physical  force  would  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  them,  and  if  nothing  else  would  avail  to  drive  them 
from  the  vacant  land  they  would  be  shot  to  death  by  gov- 
ernment powder  and  balls  from  government  guns  in  the 
hands  of  government  troops.  And  yet  the  only  crime  of 
which  such  laborers  would  be  guilty  would  be  that  of 
trying  to  earn  an  honest  living  and  promote  the  happiness 
of  the  world  by  increasing  its  wealth  ;  their  only  crime 
would  be  that  of  wishing  to  apply  productive  labor  to  what 
we  call  natural  materials,  which,  Avhen  not  in  legitimate 
use,  should  be  free  to  all.  They  know,  in  short,  that  the 
man-starving  monopoly  of  vacant  land  is  authorized  and 
maintained  by  military  government. 

They  know,  also,  that  the  monopoly  of  money  is  sim- 
ilarly maintained  by  government.  Free  competition  with 
the  government  in  the  manufacture  and  uttering  of  money  is 
forcibly  prevented.  And  because  profits  arise  on  account 
of  the  monopoly  of  land  and  money  the  government  is  the 
creator  of  rent,  interest  and  i)rofits,  the  baleful  trinity  in 
unity,  more  j)Owerful  than  any  imaginary  bad  god  to  plunge 
the  human  race  into  poverty  and  so  into  misery  and  crime. 

Anarchists  believe,  still  further,  that  all  statute  laws  are 
necessarily  partial  and  unjust,  xmless  you  choose  to  excejjt 
laws  against  violence  and  theft.  It  is  impossible  to  devise 
a  statute  law  that  will  not  favor  some  persons  against 
others.  The  very  "machinery  of  justice,"  as  we  call  our 
judicial  system,  Avorks  injustice  to  the  poor,  if  for  no  other 
rea,son,  because  as  between  a  litigant  with  money  and  a 
litigant  without  money  the  poor  man  may  be  defeated  by 
his  very  inability  to  bear  the  expenses  of  court-procedure 

All  this  is  very  briefly  and  insufficiently  stated,  but 
Anarchists  believe  that  it  can  be  scientifically  and    elab- 


The  Anarchistic  Method.  313 

orately  proved  that,  wlietlier  government  is  a  ^^  necessary 
evil"  or  not,  it  is  necessarily  evil  as  at  present  constituted 
anywhere  in  the  world. 

It  follows,  then,  that  Anarchists  desire  a  cessation  of 
military  government.  It  would  not,  however,  convey  the 
right  idea  to  say  that  they  wish  to  destroy  the  government. 
They  desire  that  society  should  grow  away  from  the 
necessity  for  government  by  physical  force  by  the  gradual 
and  general  acceptance  of  scientific  principles  of  Sociology. 
The  Anarchistic  method  of  regenerating  society,  therefore, 
is  that  of  educating  the  people  in  scientific  principles  of 
social  co-operation  or  mutuality  ;  it  is  that  of  propaganda, 
of  calling  the  attention  of  the  people  to  facts  widely 
observed  and  logically  collated;  of  doing  just  what  I  am 
doing  at  this  moment.  They  understand  that  all  existing 
governments  are  the  expression  of  the  will  of  the  people. 
Russia  is  ruled  by  a  Czar  because  most  of  the  people  of 
Russia  believe  that  is  the  best  form  of  government  for  them. 
Public  opinion  prevails  in  Russia  without  the  ballot  as 
effectually  as  with  us  through  the  ballot.  Military  protec- 
tion of  social  parasites  prevails  in  this  country  because 
most  of  our  people  believe  that  the  monopoly  of  vacant 
land  is  right  and  that  our  present  money  system  is  just  and 
fair,  precisely  as  they  once  believed  that  chattel  slavery 
was  a  divine  institution.  Most  of  our  people  are  firm 
believers  in  the  righteousness  of  rent,  interest  and  profits, 
and  the  large  owners  of  real-estate  and  holders  of  govern- 
ment-bonds are  commonly  believed  to  come  by  their  money 
honestly  and  fairly.  They  are  not  popularly  regarded  as 
monopolists  who  increase  their  riches  by  simply  appropri- 
ating what  others  produce.  While  such  beliefs  exist  society 
Avill  remain  very  much  as  it  is.  Xothing  can  bring  it  into 
Anarchistic  arrangement  but  a  general  recognition  of  the 
essential  injustice  of  all  wealth-getting  except  by  wealth 
producing.  Anarchists,  for  the  present,  therefore,  have 
nothing  rational  to  do  but  to  clarify  their  own  ideas, 
develop  their  science  and  teach  their  principles. 

I  have  already  explained  why  it  would  be  absurd  for 
them  to  wage  war  for  their  principles.  They  know  that 
nothing  is  ever  settled  by  being  fought  out ;  all  right 
consummations  must  be  thought  out.  Many  Anarchists 
think,  also,  that  it  Avould  be  absurd  for  them  to  resort  to 
political  methods.     A  ballot  means  a  bullet.     The  decision 


314  Evolution  and  Social  Reform  : 

of  a  majority  at  an  election  holds  because  the  army  is 
behind  it.  But  Anarchists,  even  if  they  were  in  a  majority, 
would  not  wish  to  impose  their  will  on  a  minority.  In  the 
opinion  of  very  many  Anarchists,  therefore,  the  ballot  is, 
for  their  use,  a  stultifying  implement.  But  even  if  it  were 
not  it  would  not  be  employed  by  them,  because  they  regard 
it  as  useless.  They  believe  that  when  public  opinion 
favors  a  violation  or  the  ignoring  of  a  statute  law  it  is  not 
necessary  to  vote  that  law  off  the  statute-books.  It  will 
become  inoperative ;  a  dead  letter,  as  we  say.  And  as 
Anarchists  can  have  nothing  to  vote  for  except  the  abroga- 
tion of  existing  laws,  manifestly  voting,  in  their  case, 
would  be  a  work  of  supererogation. 

For  example  :  All  Anarchists  are  necessarily  free-traders  ; 
but  most  Anarchists  will  not  vote  with  the  Democrats, 
because  they  know  that  when  public  sentiment  favors  free 
trade  custom-houses  and  custom  officers  will  disappear. 
No  army  was  ever  yet  organized  that  could  force  a  nation 
to  pay  duties  or  do  anything  else  against  the  public  sen- 
timent of  that  nation. 

Anarchists  point  to  the  statute-books  of  every  nation 
and  every  old  State  in  this  nation  for  evidence  that  it  is 
unnecessary  to  fight  or  vote  laws  into  desuetude.  Multitudes 
of  laws  which  have  never  been  abrogated  are  absolutely 
inoperative.  They  are  so  dead  that  it  is  not  worth  while 
to  expunge  them  from  the  records.  I  believe  the  old 
Connecticut  blue-laws  have  never  been  repealed,  but  there 
is  not  j)ower  enough  at  tlie  command  of  the  Governor  of 
that  State  or  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  enforce 
them  in  the  present  tem])er  of  public  oi)inion.  There  is  a 
law  in  the  District  of  Columbia  providing  that  an  offender 
shall  be  bored  through  the  tongue  for  denying  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  or  something  of  that  sort.  But  it  is  so 
paralyzed  by  public  odium  that  it  is  impossible  to  enforce 
it  and  umiecessary  to  abolish  it. 

The  Xew  York  Grocers'  Association  is  a  current  illustra- 
tion of  how  laws  against  the  collection  of  debts  will,  J 
think,  fall  into  disuse.  Anarchists  object  very  strongly  to 
laws  against  the  collection  of  debts.  They  think  a  debt  is 
contracted  by  a  private  arrangement  with  which  the  State 
should  have  nothing  to  do;  that  State  interference  for  the 
collection  of  debts  tends  to  greatly  reduce  business  integrity  ; 
that  coniniercial  inoralitv  would  inimediatelv  reach  a  niiu'li 


The  Anarchistic  3fethod.  315 

higher  than  its  present  plane  if  all  financial  transactions 
were  effected  upon  individual  honor ;  that  the  dangerous, 
the  ruinous  credit-system  of  doing  business  would  be 
desirably  modified  if  laws  for  the  collection  of  debts  by 
force  were  abolished.  Indeed,  some  Anarchists  think  that 
the  abolition  of  laws  for  the  collection  of  debts  would  go 
very  far  toward  reorganizing  society  upon  a  just  basis. 
But,  important  as  this  measure  is,  they  deem  it  unnecessaiy 
to  vote  for  it,  because,  in  time,  the  experience  of  business- 
men will  demonstrate  that  such  laws  are  futile  and  unneces- 
sary, and  when  a  law  goes  out  of  use  under  the  action  of 
popular  opinion  its  disappearance  produces  no  friction,  for 
it  ceases  because  no  one  desires  it  any  longer. 

To  light  down  slavery  was  a  mistake  followed  by  inevita- 
ble unhappy  conditions  until  now.  If  slavery  had  been 
let  alone  until  it  crumbled  away  there  would  have  succeeded 
its  disappearance  no  sad  and  vexing  negro-problem.  This 
was  the  wish  of  Garrison  and  his  friends,  very  good 
Anarchists,  who  denounced  the  government  and  burned  the 
Constitution  because  they  upheld  chattel  slavery  as  they 
sustain  indirect  slavery  to-day,  and  who  contemplated  the 
use  of  no  other  than  intellectual  and  moral  weapons  against 
the  abomination.  If  Garrison's  policy  of  propaganda  and 
passive  resistance  had  been  followed,  the  institution  of 
chattel  slavery  would  not  have  disappeared  as  suddenly  as 
it  did,  but  it  would  inevitably  have  fallen  to  pieces,  little 
by  little,  without  leaving  soldier  blood  and  a  national  debt 
where  it  fell.  It  would  have  fallen  without  the  use  of  a 
bullet  or  a  ballot. 

The  Anarchist,  then,  at  present  is  simply  a  propagandist, 
by  word  and  passive  deed.  He  talks  and  writes  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  refrains  from  doing  those  things  that  to  him 
are  useless  and  wrong.  He  ceases  to  exercise  the  privilege 
of  the  franchise.  If  he  is  entirely  consistent  he  will 
receive  nothing  that  he  does  not  earn,  except  by  gift.  If 
he  believes  that  it  is  wise  for  him  to  become  a  martyr  for 
purposes  of  propaganda  he  will  refuse  to  pay  taxes  and 
take  the  consequences,  without  physical  resistance.  An- 
archists, however,  as  a  rule  are  not  what  is  commonly  called 
fanatical.  They  rely  more  upon  words,  for  the  present, 
than  upon  deeds.  But  when  they  become  more  numerous 
the  method  of  passive  resistance  will,  no  doubt,  he  resorted 
to. 


316  Mvolution  and  Social  Reform : 

For  example:  By  general  consent  among  a  large  number 
in  a  given  locality,  they  may  refuse  to  pay,  under  compul- 
sion, their  taxes,  offering,  of  course,  to  resign  all  claims  to 
governmental  protection,  and  perhaps  offering  voluntarily 
to  contribute  toward  the  maintenance  of  those  comniixnal 
undertakings  of  which  they  approve  ;  or  they  may  go  upon 
vacant  land  to  use  it,  suffering  themselves  to  be  evicted, 
unless  public  oi)inion  sustains  them ;  or  they  may  attempt 
to  circulate  mutual  bank  or  credit  money.  In  two  words, 
the  Anarchistic  method,  for  the  present,  is  propaganda,  but 
when  they  believe  themselves  to  be  in  sufticient  numbers 
they  will  probably  resort  to  passive  resistance. 

Upon  this  presentation  they  may  appear  to  be  very 
impractical,  but  if  what  I  have  so  briefly  said  is  thought- 
fully considered,  and  if  it  is  remembered  tliat  Anarchistic 
opinion  as  it  grows  will  constantly  be  registering  itself  by 
the  platform-makers  and  law-makers,  I  tliink  the  conclusion 
will  be  reached  that  Anarchists  are  not  characteristically 
dreamers,  but  are  sane  students  of  history  and  human 
nature. 

Let  me  illustrate  what  I  mean  by  a  case  that  is  before 
the  public  mind  at  this  moment.  Anarchists  are  opposed 
to  capital  punishment,  and  they  observe  with  complacent 
pleasure  the  growing  sentiment  against  the  barbarous 
])ractice.  A  bill  for  its  abolition  recently  passed  the  New 
York  Assembly  but  was  defeated  in  the  Senate.  The 
introduction  of  this  bill  in  the  New  York  Legislature 
exemplifies  the  tendency  of  the  politicians  to  reflect  public 
opinion  in  the  making  or  unmaking  of  laws ;  but  the  facts 
regarding  the  practice  of  capital  punishment  also  show 
that  it  is  a  matter  of  no  concern  whatever  Avhat  legislatures 
do  or  fail  to  do  in  the  ])reniises.  I  do  not  know  how  many 
murders  were  committed  in  New  York  State  last  year,  but 
there  were  only  eight  executions  ;  and  although  there  were 
reported  during  the  same  year  ooGT  murders  and  homicides 
as  having  occurred  in  the  United  States,  there  were  but 
ninety-eiglit  hangings.  The  death-penalty  is  gradually 
abolishing  itself,  and  whetlier  tlie  laws  on  the  subject 
remain  on  the  statute-books  or  not,  the  practice  of  hanging 
in  this  country  will  soon  be  given  up.  This  method  of 
abolishing  an  obnoxious  law  is  Anarchistic  or  evolutionary; 
and  it  should  be  understood  tliat  the  Anarchistic  method  is 
ahviiys  and  in  every  particular  the  application  of,  or,  rather, 


The  Anarchistic  Method.  317 

confoniiity  to,  the  principles  of  evolution  in  the '  progress 
of  society. 

From  the  presentation  that  I  have  made  of  this  subject, 
it  should  be  seen  by  the  most  conservative  mind  that 
Anarchism  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  old-fashioned 
American  idea  that  that  government  is  best  which  governs 
least.  The  present  apparent  tendency  of  thought  is  toward 
the  idea  that  that  government  is  best  that  governs  most  — 
State  Socialism,  or,  as  it  is  called  in  its  distinctively  Amer- 
ican form,  jSTationalism.  Between  these  two  ideas  we  are 
slowly  but  surely  being  forced  to  choose.  The  question  is 
immediately  before  us  :  Avhether  government  shall,  little  by 
little,  increase  its  functions,  or  little  by  little  decrease  its 
functions  ;  whether  government  shall  become  more  central- 
ized or  society  more  flexible  ;  whether  the  individual  shall 
be  more  and  more  subordinated  to  the  State  or  more  and 
more  free  to  pursue  in  his  own  way,  life,  liberty  and 
happiness.  Anarchists  believe  that  the  State  should 
decrease  and  the  individual  increase  ;  that  the  most  har- 
monious society  will  be  composed  of  individuals  who  are 
controlled  by  reason,  governed  by  moral  considerations ;  and 
that  the  removal  of  restrictions  upon  industry  and  trade, 
the  cessation  of  partial,  monopolistic  legislation,  will  conduce 
to  the  development  of  men  who  will  be  able  to  sustain 
social  relations  to  each  other  without  necessity  for  the 
imaginary  terrors  of  supernaturalism  or  the  real  compvilsion 
of  military  government.  Mutualism  between  free  individ- 
uals is  the  doctrine  of  Anarchism.  To  rationally  and 
peacefully  decrease  the  powers  of  compulsory  government 
is  the  method  of  Anarchism. 

There  are  two  questions  which  Anarchists  are  frequ.ently 
called  upon  to  answer.  The  first  of  these  is :  How  can 
communal  undertakings  be  accomplished  without  some 
governmental  authority  ?  How  can  sewers  and  streets  be 
made  and  supervised  without  some  centralized  restraining 
or  compelling  power  ?  How  could  boundaries  to  land, 
and  all  those  matters  that  are  now  defined  by  law, —  and 
disputes  about  which  are  settled  in  the  courts, —  be  deter- 
mined ?  To  all  these  questions  Anarchists  can  no  more 
give  definite  answers  than  they  can  tell  what  the  fashion 
in  hats  will  be  in  the  year  2000.  All  they  can  do  is  to 
appeal  to  history  and  show  that  men  have  learned  how  to 
do  manv  things  witliout  the  aid  of   government,  for  the 


318  EvoliutOJi  and  Social  Reform. 

doing  of  which  government  was  once  believed  to  be  neces« 
sary,  and  to  reason  with  apparent  warrant  that  men  are 
capable  of  learning  how  to  do  in  the  future  much  that  now 
seems  difficult  or  impossible.  If  it  is  remembered  that 
Anarchists  suppose  that  men  must  learn  how  to  do  many 
things  by  voluntary  association  better  than  they  are  done 
or  can  be  done  by  present  methods,  before  they  will  cease 
to  be  done  by  governmental  compulsion,  the  question  will 
be  answered  as  well  as  it  can  be  in  a  single  sentence.  The 
best  fire-department  is  that  which  insurance  companies 
equip  for  their  own  interests ;  the  best  schools  are  private 
schools,  else  why  do  they  continue  in  unequal  competition 
with  public  schools  ?  There  is  no  good  reason  why  men 
should  not  yet  learn  how  to  build  the  best  roads  and  sewers 
and  other  communal  works  without  the  services  of  armed 
constables  or  policemen.  To  suppose  otherwise  is  to 
strangely  limit  the  capabilities  of  the  human  mind,  which 
has  already  accomplished  enough  once  apparent  impos- 
sibilities to  warrant  very  considerable  faith  in  its  ability  to 
meet  all  future  social  requirements  and  practically  solve 
all  future  social  problems. 

The  other  question  to  which  I  referred  is  :  How  long 
will  it  be  before  Anarchism  will  or  may  be  practically 
realized  ?  To  this  the  Anarchist  replies  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  tell.  Evolution  is  slow  up  to  a  certain  point,  at 
which  point  events  shape  themselves  with  astonishing 
rapidity.  We  can  never  tell  at  just  what  stage  of  evolu- 
tion we  are.  Unforeseen  circumstances  often  precipitate 
accomplishments  which  apparently  belong  to  the  remote 
future.  But  with  the  question,  "When  ?"  Anarchists  do 
not  much  concern  themselves.  What  is  long  to  human 
life  is  short  as  a  historical  period.  The  Anarchist  is  a 
scientist ;  it  is  for  him  to  announce  his  discover}'.  He  is 
a  philosoplier ;  it  is  for  him  to  earnestly  labor  and  patiently 
wait.  He  believes  he  has  discovered  certain  sociological 
facts ;  he  believes  that  all  men  will  in  time  come  to 
acknowledge  them  as  facts.  For  what  is  gained  while  he 
lives  he  rejoices:  but  if  little  is  accomplished  before  his 
work  is  done  he  does  not  despair.  He  sees  of  the  travail 
of  his  soul  and  is  satisfied. 


EVOLUTION  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM 
IV.  THE  SCIENTIFIC  METHOD. 


BY 

DANIEL   GREENLEAF   THOMPSON 

Author  of  "A  System  of  Psychology,"  "The  Problem  of  Evil,' 

"The  Religious  Sentiments  of  the  Human  Mind," 

"Herbert  Spencbr,"  etc. 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

Spencer's  " Principles  of  Sociology"  and  "The  Man  versus  the 
State";  Graham's  "Creed  of  Science"  and  "The  Social  Prob- 
lem"; Bagehot's  "Physics  and  Politics";  Savage's  "Tlie  Social 
Problem";  Crosier's  "Civilizaticm  and  Progress";  Ward's  "Dy- 
namic Sociology";  Oilman's  "Profit-Sharing  between  Employer 
and  Employee." 

(320) 


EVOLUTION    AND    SOCIAL    REFORM.* 


IV.     THE    SCIENTIFIC    METHOD. 

When  I  looked  over  the  assignments  for  the  four  lectures 
which  conclude  the  present  course,  it  was  with  a  little 
surprise.  The  topics  express  four  methods  of  effecting 
social  reform,  which  presumably  would  be  exhibited  by 
their  advocates  and,  indeed,  champions.  First,  then,  I 
observed  that  the  Theological  method  was  to  be  presented 
by  Mr.  Chadwick.  Now,  I  have  the  greatest  respect  for 
my  eminent  friend's  theological  abilities,  which  I  am  con- 
fident we  should  know  him  to  possess  even  if  he  did  not 
often  use  them.  I  am  also  thoroughly  satisfied  of  his 
theological  learning ;  for  it  is  not  the  empiric  but  the  man 
truly  learned  in  theology  who  arrives  at  Mr.  Chadwick's 
conclusions  and  stands  upon  his  platform.  Yet  there  comes 
to  memory  my  mental  attitude  of  twenty  years  ago  (which 
may  still  be  that  of  some),  when  I  used  to  attend  a  church 
in  the  neighborhood  which,  if  it  could  not  build  itself  upon 
Plymouth  Rock,  could  at  least  chip  off  a  piece  for  its  corner- 
stone. In  those  days  I  did  not  think  so  much  of  Mr. 
Chadwick  in  the  light  of  a  theologian  as  a  poet,  or  perhaps 
as  a  humorist,  when  he  came  to  discuss  theological  topics. 
But  that  was  a  long  time  ago,  and  I  like  to  believe  that 
during  these  years,  when  I  have  been  devoting  myself  to 
other  matters,  even  theology  has  been  progressing  until  tlie 
best  thought  recognizes  in  ^Ir.  Chadwick  an  exponent  of 
the  true  Theological  method,  which,  if  knowledge  and 
wisdom  be  divine,  ought  not  to  be  very  far  aAvay  from  the 
Scientific. 

As  to  Mr.  Potts  in  connection  with  Socialism,  I  have  had 
much  more  difficulty  in  reconciling  the  subject  with  the 
man.  I  awaited  his  paper  with  anxiety,  as  one  waits  for 
tidings  of  a  friend  who  may  have  been  exposed  to  con- 
tagious disease,  not  knowing  with  whom,  in  his  various 
interests,  he  might  have  held  the  communications  which 
corrupt  good  morals,  and  well-knowing  that  the  days  of 
sudden   conversions    are   not   yet   past.     He    might   have 

*  Copyright,  1890,  by  James  H.  West. 


322  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

contracted  the  slow  malarial  fever  of  Georgeism  or  the 
cerebro-spinal  meningitis  of  Bellamy  ism  —  I  could  not  know. 
]^ut  wlien  I  saw  his  lecture  1  was  at  once  relieved,  and  I 
can  only  hope  the  day  will  soon  come  when  Mr.  Potts's 
Socialism  will  supersede  other  systems  and  become  univer- 
sally trium2)hant ! 

Without  knowing  exactly  the  position  of  Mr.  Pentecost, 
I  must  confess  that  the  line  of  reflection  to  which  I  have 
just  made  reference  was  disturbed  by  a  ghastly  suspicion. 
What  if  it  were  possible  that  these  three  gentlemen  were 
selected  because  of  the  very  fact  that  their  own  methods 
were  conspicuously  the  opposite  of  those  with  which  they 
were  to  deal  ?  If  such  were  the  case,  exactly  where  would 
I  stand  with  respect  to  the  Scientific  method  ?  Perhaps 
as  a  horrible  example  of  the  unscientific ;  or  perhaps,  if  I 
defended  science,  I  should  be  thought  a  disguised  enemy, 
ready  to  smite  under  the  fifth  rib  while  pretending  friendly 
interest.  Nevertheless,  I  shall  dare  assume  to  represent 
true  science,  and  to  be  a  sincere  believer  in  the  scientific- 
method,  though  I  run  the  risk  of  having  some  kind  Socrates 
come  up  to  me  patronizingly  but  pityingly,  and  say  :  "  Good 
friend,  you  are  not  at  all  scientific  ;  you  only  think  you  are. 
You  consider  you  know  everything,  while  in  reality  you 
know  nothing.  With  science  you  are  very  evidently 
unacquainted."  If  the  courtesy  of  this  audience  spares 
me  such  a  punishment,  I  am  sure  there  are  plenty  of 
theologians,  socialists  and  anarchists,  who  Avould  be  glad 
to  inflict  it  in  the  name  of  science.  For  they  all  claim  to 
be  scientific.  Science  is  good  to  conjure  by,  and  in  these 
days  we  have  not  so  much  need  of  exalting  lier  name  as  of 
detecting  and  exposing  those  who  have  stolen  her  livery  to 
serve  ignorance  and  sciolism. 

We  ouglit  then  to  define  our  position  and  understand 
what  we  mean  by  the  Scientific  method.  It  is  Social 
Jveforni  or  improvement  that  we  have  in  view,  and  we  want 
to  know  tlie  Scientific  method  of  ett'ecting  it.  Why  do  we 
seek  for  the  Scientific  mode  ?  AVhy  not  follow  an  unsci- 
entific method  ?  Because  it  is  presupposed  that  the 
scientific  is  more  likely  to  accomplish  the  desired  practical 
end.  What  reason  is  there  for  such  a  presumption  ?  The 
same  reason  tliat  causes  us  to  believe  we  can  raise  figs 
better  on  fig-trees  tlian  on  tliistles ;  that,  knowing  tlie 
geography  of  the  earth,  if  we  steer  by  tlie  sun  and  stars 


The  Scientific  Method.  323 

we  shall  reach  our  destination ;  that  if  we  eat  corn  and 
wheat  we  shall  live  and  thrive,  but  if  we  consume  poisonous 
herbs  we  shall  perish.  Knowing  the  uniformity  of  Nature, 
and  ascertaining  what  causes  produce  given  effects,  what 
ensues  from  the  composition  of  causes,  and  what  frustrates 
results,  we  are  able  to  predict  what  lines  of  action,  what 
conditions,  are  favorable  to  the  end  sought,  and  what  are 
opposed.  We  thus  see  that  the  practical  science  of  social 
amelioration  is  based  upon  a  theoretical  science.  We  must 
know  in  order  that  we  may  believe  and  act.  The  practical 
Scientific  method  must,  therefore,  be  developed  from  that 
exact  knowledge  for  Avhich  Aristotle  and  Bacon  sought  and 
Avhich  is  the  only  sure  foundation  upon  which  to  build. 

The  factors  would  seem  to  be  simple,  being  only  men 
dwelling  together.  But  this  association  speedily  evokes 
the  most  intricate  and  perplexing  questions,  arising  from 
the  circumstance  that  man  is  dependent  upon  his  fellows 
while  at  the  same  time  his  interests  may  be  antagonistic  to 
them.  Man  tightly  bound  to  man,  but  yet  for  deadly 
conflict,  is  the  spectacle  presented.  How  to  transform  this 
struggling  mass  of  human  beings  in  a  living  death,  into  an 
orderly,  contented  and  happy  community  Avherein  the 
desires  of  all  are  attained  and  each  can  realize  his  own 
aims,  is  the  problem  of  social  improvement. 

Is  the  solution  possible  ?  Let  us  study  ISfature.  And 
by  I^ature  I  mean  all  that  has  been  produced  to  human 
experience ;  that  stream  of  events  which  has  proceeded 
from  chaos  and  ancient  night ;  which  always  is,  and  yet  is 
in  ceaseless  flux,  the  perpetual  contradiction  of  being  and 
becoming  over  which  the  Ionic  and  Eleatic  philosophers 
debated,  and  which  the  acute  and  imaginative  Egyptians 
loved  to  symbolize  in  the  myths  of  Isis  and  Osiris.  Our 
field  of  study  is  the  solar  and  stellar  universe,  the  globe  on 
which  we  dwell,  the  sequences  of  inorganic  growth,  and 
the  various  forms  of  organic  life,  man  and  his  progress 
from  the  beginning.  Seeing  what  is  and  ascertaining  what 
has  been,  we  may  perhaps  determine  what  Avill  be.  If  a 
complete  solution  is  not  possible,  an  approximate  one  may, 
perchance,  be  reached. 

Natural  forces  are  of  two  general  sorts,  the  mechanical 
and  the  chemical.  The  one  operate  by  antagonisms,  the 
other  by  assimilations  ;  the  one  are  destructive,  the  other 
constructive ;   the  one  are  characteristic  of  the  inorganic, 


324  Evolution  and  Social  Kef  arm  : 

the  other  of  the  organic.  As  evolution  has  proceeded, 
organic  life  has  become  more  complex,  and  hence  the 
assimilating  forces  have  been  growing  more  far-reaching, 
more  abundant,  and  more  essential.  This  is  as  true  of 
human  life  as  it  is  of  lower  forms.  In  human  society 
there  is  a  multitude  of  individuals,  each  of  whom  is  an 
organic  whole,  a  source  of  life  and  power,  having  its  own 
aspirations,  purposes,  and  ends  to  fulfill.  An  ideal  of  his 
own  greatness  and  glory  shines  before  him ;  the  world  is 
his  for  achievement ;  everything  is  regarded  as  an  instru- 
ment for  his  purposes ;  those  who  will  submit  and  help  are 
welcome,  those  who  oppose  he  will  dash  in  pieces.  The 
reader  of  Walt  Whitman's  poems  will  find  there  described 
the  type  of  man  filled  with  exi)ansiveness,  initiativeness, 
creativeness,  self-development,  in  whom  the  spirit  of  in- 
dividualism is  dominant  and  aggressive. 

But  this  individualism  receives  a  constant  check  from 
the  fact  that  man  does  not  live  in  isolation.  The  difference 
of  sex  necessitates  gregariousness.  Mutual  interests  are 
developed,  and  the  individual  finds  that  his  own  cherished 
objects  of  attainment  involve  the  co-operation  of  liis 
fellows,  who  are  constituted  precisely  like  himself.  He 
cannot  have  their  society  without  making  concessions  to 
their  personalities.  He  must  do  at  least  some  of  the 
things  they  Avant  in  order  to  get  the  things  he  wants.  And 
the  more  people  he  has  communication  with  the  more 
varied  will  be  the  modes  of  mutual  yielding.  The  social 
sentiments,  then,  which  have  regard  for  others,  grow  along- 
side of  the  selfish  in  the  human  individual,  and  become 
more  complex  as  social  intercourse  is  extended  and  the 
interdependence  of  human  beings  becomes  more  fully 
established.  The  predatory  appetites  are  Aveakened,  their 
urgency  becomes  less,  while  the  social  interests  are  enlarged 
and  the  sympathetic  feelings  increased  in  power  and  scope. 

Tlius  the  fact  that  there  has  been  an  evolutionary 
progress  toward  a  mutual  accommodation  of  human  actions 
and  aims  in  a  peacefully-ordered  community,  proves  that  a 
solution  of  the  problem  we  proposed  is  possible,  since  it 
has  been  already  partially  solved.  We  see  how  its  solution 
has  been  possible,  and  how,  if  at  all,  its  solution  will  be 
made  more  complete.  This  we  are  able  to  imderstand  only 
through  a  scientific  observation  of  the  facts  of  hiiman 
nature  as  revealed  by  psychology,  anthropology  and  sociol- 


The  Scientific  Method.  325 

ogy.  We  note  that  each  individual  will  follow  out  his  own 
aims  and  desires,  and  can  do  nothing  else,  for  he  is  both  a 
source  of  power  and  an  end  unto  himself.  He  will  be 
guided  by  the  law  of  his  own  being,  established  by  his 
constitution,  his  training  and  circumstances.  His  ideal 
will  always  be  to  do  what  he  wishes  to  do ;  then  only  will 
he  be  satisfied.  He  can  be  restrained  and  prevented  from 
following  his  chosen  course,  but  he  will  elude,  overcome 
and  thwart  the  controlling  force  if  he  possibly  can.  If 
the  pressure  be  increased,  his  energy  is  crushed  out  and  he 
has  no  more  power  of  self-development  at  all. 

The  strong  hand  of  government,  therefore,  is  a  most 
imperfect  method  of  securing  that  mutual  comity  which  is 
the  ideal  of  a  perfect  State.  It  can  only  be  administered 
by  men  acting  forcibly  against  other  men.  This  of  itself 
fosters  the  very  spirit  of  antagonism  which  it  is  most 
important  to  eradicate.  The  process  is  repressive  of  that 
individual  expansion  which  is  the  fountain  of  all  social 
progress.  While  governmental  control  is  necessary  to 
some  extent,  no  doubt,  the  needs  of  a  higher  civilization 
demand  its  continual  limitation  within  narrower  bounds 
and  its  reduction  to  a  minimum.  In  the  nature  of  things 
the  rule  of  man  over  man,  whether  by  a  monarch  or  the 
demos,  is  detrimental  to  the  perfection  both  of  the  individ- 
ual and  of  society.  Its  value  consists  in  preventing  chaos,, 
in  holding  men  together  in  security  so  as  to  allow  the^ 
working  of  a  much  better  process. 

This  better  Avay  is  the  only  way  of  perfecting  civiliza- 
tion. It  allows  the  individual  to  have  his  own  will  in  the 
most  complete  liberty,  but  it  aims  so  to  mould  his  character 
that  his  wishes  and  desires  shall  coincide  exactly  with  the 
demands  of  social  welfare.  Said  Emerson:  ''Every  man 
takes  care  that  his  neighbor  shall  not  cheat  liim.  But  a 
day  comes  when  he  begins  to  care  that  he  do  not  cheat  his 
neighbor.  Then  all  goes  well.  He  has  changed  his  market- 
cart  into  a  chariot  of  the  sun."  This  is  precisely  the 
Scientific  method  of  promoting  reform, —  its  central,  essen- 
tial idea,  the  only  thorough  and  successful  mode,  without 
which  nothing  else  is  of  any  utility  and  to  which  every- 
thing else  should  be  held  subservient. 

Theoretical  science  thus  furnishes  to  practical  science 
two  complementary  precepts,  which  should  guide  all  efforts 
toward  social  reform.     The  first  is  to  keep  limiting  the 


326  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

sphere  and  diminisliing  the  functions  of  government, 
reducing  both  as  fast  and  as  far  as  is  consistent  witli 
security.  The  other  is  to  foster  in  every  jjracticable  way 
the  formation  and  maintenance  of  the  altruistic  character 
in  individuals. 

From  what  I  have  said  it  will  sufficiently  appear  that  the 
Scientific  method  is  opposed  to  the  Theological,  so  far  as 
the  latter  makes  obedience  to  authority  the  means  of 
reaching  the  social  millennium.  It  makes  no  difference  if 
the  authority  be  divine.  Divinity  always  has  human 
interpreters  and  vicegerents.  Divine  authority  is  but 
another  form  of  autocracy  or  aristocracy,  moie  objectiona- 
ble than  the  others,  because  it  is  less  elastic,  assuming  that 
being  divine  it  must  be  unchangeable.  It  is  hence  serioiisly 
obstructive  of  that  process  of  evolution,  in  the  preservation 
of  which  life  subsists,  and  in  the  absence  of  which  is 
decay  and  death  to  the  social  organism.  Theology,  however, 
is  not  religion.  Happily,  in  the  course  of  religious  devel- 
opment, particularly  in  Christianity,  the  Scientific  principle 
has  been  readied,  has  become  prominent,  and  its  value 
demonstrated.  The  most  strenuous  efforts  have  been  made 
in  the  history  of  tliis  religion  to  sustain  the  principle  of 
authority,  but  the  vitality  and  power  of  the  Scientific 
doctrine  has  been  so  great  as  repeatedly  and  I  think  at  last 
permanently  to  triumph,  while  the  blessed  effects  of  its 
practical  use  have  given  to  Christianity  all  its  success  and 

The  Scientific  method  is  also  opposed  to  the  Anarchistic, 
because  it  recognizes  that  society  is  a  growth,  and  knows 
that  if  at  a  given  stage  existing  institutions  are  radically 
destroyed  it  is  only  by  a  process  of  growth  that  new  ones 
can  arise ;  that  this  process  will  be  just  as  complicated  as 
the  })receding  one,  and  will  have  to  go  through  its  various 
stages  of  imperfection  before  any  perfection  can  be  reached. 
First  the  stem,  then  the  flower,  then  the  fruit  after  its 
kind.  Nothing  can  exist  excejjt  as  suited  to  its  surround- 
ing conditions.  Cataclysms  in  society  are  sometimes 
inevitable,  because  there  seems  to  be  no  hope  for  improve- 
ment. All  the  avenues  are  closed  up.  But  the  virtue  of 
the  Scientific  method  is  that  it  takes  care  to  keep  open  the 
avenues  for  the  moveiiuMit  of  evolutionary  forces,  and  to 
render  anarchic  disturbiuices  unnecessary  and  even  im- 
possible. 


The  Scientific  Method.  327 

The  Scientific  method  has  no  part  or  lot  with  the  Social- 
istic, if  by  the  latter  is  meant  the  theory  which  proposes 
the  State  and  its  government  machinery  as  the  chief 
agency  for  guiding  and  training  the  human  race  to  positive 
and  progressive  development,  and  for  doing  for  individuals, 
positively,  what  they  could  not  do  for  themselves.  The 
reason  why  this  principle  is  unscientific  is  apparent  from 
what  has  gone  before.  To  accomplish  socialistic  ideals, 
power  must  be  accumulated.  Where  ?  In  the  hands  of 
men.  Whence  comes  it  ?  It  is  taken  away  from  other 
men.  Who  are  to  use  it  ?  Men.  For  what  purpose  ? 
Theoretically,  for  the  common  Aveal.  If  it  is  not  so  used, 
there  is  tyranny  and  greater  wretchedness  than  before. 
The  users  of  this  power  then  must  be  supremely  intelligent 
and  supremely  benevolent.  When  the  amount  of  govern- 
ment we  have  is  so  largely  in  the  hands  of  thieves,  cut- 
throats and  ruffians,  what  encouragement  have  we  to 
believe  that,  if  government  had  more  power  and  more 
directions  for  its  activity,  matters  would  be  improved  ? 
The  answer  to  Socialism  always  is  :  The  accumulation  and 
exercise  of  power  by  the  State  is  necessarily  the  vesting 
of  power  in  individuals  to  be  used  by  them  over  others. 
If  the  community  is  chiefly  made  up  of  people  who  are 
good  and  righteous  from  the  social  point  of  view,  there  is 
no  need  of  such  accumulation.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
community  contains  any  considerable  evil  element,  increase 
of  State  functions  tends  to  abridge  the  common  liberty,  to 
disturb  the  social  equilibrium,  to  foster  oppression,  and  to 
inaugurate  a  retrograde  movement  toward  the  primitive 
forms  of  "man's  inhuananity  to  man,"  which  made  life  a 
lurid  drama  of  woe  and  wretchedness. 

Having  now  presented  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  Scien- 
tific method  of  effecting  social  reform,  I  shall  not  bring 
forward  arguments  to  support  it  more  than  have  already 
been  indicated  in  the  course  of  exposition.  I  shall  occupy 
the  remainder  of  my  time  with  a  few  cautions  and  sugges- 
tions regarding  its  application.  The  first  of  these  is  that 
the  Scientific  method  does  not  require  a  person  to  become 
either  an  idiot  to  understand  or  an  imbecile  to  apply  it. 
Because  our  true  principle  is  to  seek  for  the  minimum  of 
government,  we  are  not  required  to  abolish  all  laws  and 
offices.  Though  Ave  are  to  develop  the  altruistic  character 
in  which  selfishness  is  to  be  put  aside  and  thoughts  of  the 


328  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

common  good  to  prevail,  we  must  remember  that  if  our 
neiglibors  became  too  thoroughly  altruistic  they  might  all 
commit  suicide.  Though  such  an  act  would  not  be  without 
its  compensations  to  us,  it  would  leave  us  rather  lonesome, 
and  might  be  otherwise  inconvenient.  If  we  are  convinced 
that  our  butcher  is  a  wicked  man,  we  would  not  like  to  have 
him  become  so  altruistic  as  to  stop  killing  sheep  and 
calves,  till  we  had  learned  where  another  butcher  could  be 
found  of  the  old  way  of  thinking.  We  do  not  care  to  have 
the  liquor-dealer  spill  his  liquors  into  the  street  till  enough 
of  his  best  whiskey  is  safely  domiciled  in  our  cellars.  We 
want  all  lawyers  to  be  honest  and  kind-hearted,  but  in  our 
own  cases  we  think  the  thing  to  be  done  is  to  bedevil  and 
beat  the  other  side.  Beautiful  as  absolute  altruism  may  be 
in  theory,  if  put  into  practice  it  would  either  result  in 
universal  hari-kari  or  in  a  reversed  form  of  selfish  competi- 
tion. Some  of  you  may  have  read  James  De  Mi  lie's 
"  Strange  Manuscript  found  in  a  Copper  Cylinder,"  wherein 
the  remarkable  tale  is  told  of  a  land  at  the  South  Pole, 
whose  inhabitants  thought  poverty  and  low-estate  to  be  the 
most  desirable  objects  of  life.  But  the  moment  these 
became  ends  to  be  sought,  a  condition  of  struggle  was 
developed,  caused  by  every  man  endeavoring  to  put  off  his 
wealth  and  his  comforts  upon  others.  Hence  it  became 
necessary  to  limit  and  regulate  altruism  by  law,  restraining 
those  too  eager  to  give  away  their  possessions  for  the  sake 
of  attaining  the  pauper  condition.  If  there  happened  to 
be  any  public  occasion  at  which  there  were  places  of  honor 
or  vantage,  a  fight  was  apt  to  ensue  from  the  circumstance 
that  everybody  would  insist  on  his  neighbor  taking  the 
better  place.  Death,  too,  was  regarded  as  the  greatest  of 
boons,  and  self-destruction  had  to  be  strongly  discoun- 
tenanced, people  being  compensated  for  this  prohibition  by 
tlie  promise  of  a  public  deatli  as  a  matter  of  honor  if  they 
succeeded  in  repressing  their  self-denying  impulses.  It 
thus  appears  that  we  must  be  carefiil  to  love  our  neighbors 
only  as  ourselves,  not  better;  else  ruinous  consequences 
may  ensue  and  the  Avorld  be  turned  topsy-turvy. 

The  Scientific  rule  of  the  a])plication  of  all  general 
principles  is,  Survey  the  whole  field  and  be  sure  of  your 
facts.  All  through  Kature,  frustrating  causes  are  in 
constant  operation.  Tliere  is  a  compounding  of  forces 
which  everywhere  modifies  effects.     In  the  social  organism 


The  Scientific  Method.  329 

this  is  peculiarly  true,  aud  it  takes  a  much  more  careful 
and  judicial  study  to  calculate  effects  here,  than  it  does  in 
the  mechanical  or  biological  world.  Hence  we  must  move 
cautiously  and  tentatively  in  this  region.  Thus  it  happens 
that  the  truly  "practical  man"  is  often  more  successful 
than  theorists.  13ut,  though  he  may  ridicule  science,  such 
a  one  it  is  who  after  all  is  the  true  scientist.  He  takes 
account  of  the  facts.  He  generalizes  and  reasons  induc- 
tively, gathering  together  the  various  lines  of  the  operation 
of  forces,  while  the  doctrinaire  pursues  only  one  line 
deductively,  falsely  assuming  that  conditions  do  not  change 
and  that  reaction  does  not  modify  action. 

I  read  Avith  much  interest  and  with  approval  Mr.  Potts's 
representation  of  the  evil  of  too  much  enthusiasm.  Loy- 
alty to  a  principle,  as  to  a  person,  may  easily  be  overdone. 
It  prevents  criticism,  reformation  and  readjustment  of 
principles.  Enthusiasm  is  of  more  value  in  an  unscientific 
age,  when  men  are  too  ignorant  to  be  skilful  in  bringing 
about  results,  and  when  intellectual  activities  do  not  have 
free  play.  In  former  times,  and  now  even  in  many  places, 
the  king  is  really  a  god,  to  be  thought  of  with  awe  and 
reverence,  never  to  be  criticized.  In  a  thoroughly  scientific 
community  he  is,  as  a  royal  personage,  tawdry  and  con- 
teinptible.  The  day  was  when  the  orator  who  ap])ealed 
fervently  to  the  feelings  governed  men's  minds ;  to-day 
such  appeals  are  usually  ridiculous.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  Mohammed,  hred  with  tremendous  zeal,  vainly 
endeavored  to  solve  the  social  problem  by  galloping  with 
drawn  sword  over  three  continents,  cutting  down  all  who 
opposed ;  while  Buddha  solved  it  by  sitting  down  under  a 
tree  and  going  to  sleep. 

If  I  were  asked  what  was  the  Zeit-geist  proper  to  a 
scientific  age,  I  should  unhesitatingly  say,  the  eternal  Mug- 
Avump-spirit.  It  is  a  great  ])ity  to  have  so  much  good 
activity  wasted  through  an  undiscriminating  devotion  to 
party,  in  politics,  in  religion,  and  even  in  scientific  inquiry. 
Most  people  never  know  when  to  leave  their  party  and  join 
a  better  one.  They  cannot  make  the  higher  synthesis ; 
they  are  bound  by  the  chains  of  fear  and  prejudice.  Into 
their  obstinate  adherence  to  their  idols  enters  also,  uncon- 
sciously to  themselves,  a  very  dangerous  form  of  egotism. 
Nothing  is  good  exce})t  what  they  favor  and  what  they  are 
personally  concerned  in  bringing  about.     Many  a  reform 


330  Evolution  and  Social  Reform : 

has  been  prevented  because  some  leader  has  sulked  and 
withdrawn  his  support  when  he  could  not  become  pre- 
eminent in  achieving  its  success.  Such  men  esteem  them- 
selves to  be  the  center  of  the  universe,  but  they  forget  that 
the  more  they  indulge  this  thought  the  more  the  universe 
contracts  to  their  vision,  until  at  last  it  may  chance  that 
they  can  see  no  farther  than  their  hands  can  reach,-and  are 
as  ignorant  of  what  is  really  going  on  in  the  world  beyond 
as  a  man  of  normal  mind  would  be  of  what  is  transpiring 
in  the  planet  Saturn. 

Thus  the  only  safety  lies  in  constant  criticism  of 
opinions,  laws,  principles,  courses  of  action,  one's  own  not 
less  than  other  people's.  Beware  of  partisanship,  be 
suspicious  of  growing  loyalty  to  abstract  principles  or 
fanatical  support  of  any  party ;  avoid  animosities,  and  look 
out  for  the  pugilistic  or  polemical  spirit  when  people  differ 
from  you ;  above  all,  keep  your  intelligence  clear  by  purging 
your  soul  of  the  lust  of  domination  ;  then  you  are  in  good 
condition  to  apply  the  Scientific  method  to  all  the  pi-oblems 
of  social  life  ;  and  I  Avould  not  wonder  if,  in  case  you  were 
simply  to  sit  down  under  a  tree  and  sleep,  you  might  see 
grand  visions,  of  which  you  could  tell,  when  you  awoke,  to 
the  benefit  of  mankind. 

"This  is  peace, 
To  conquer  love  of  self  ami  lust  of  life, 
To  tear  deep-rot)te(l  passion  from  the  breast, 
And  still  the  inward  strife." 

There  are  four  departments  of  activity  within  which 
social  improvement  is  wrought  out,  the  Industrial,  the 
Political,  the  Philanthropic,  the  Educational.  Industrial 
progress  benefits  society ;  every  producer  is  a  helper. 
Government  has  its  office  and  liberty  cannot  yet  dispense 
with  law.  Much  can  be  accomplished  ])y  wise  charities  to 
aid  the  suffering.  p](lucation  is  absolutely  essential,  espe- 
cially as  to  character;  for  a  person's  disj)Ositions  control  his 
deeds  and  are  largely  formative  of  his  o})inions. 

The  relations  of  politics  to  industry  just  now  present 
the  most  interesting  and  pressing  questions  of  social 
reform  ;  and  here  the  Scientific  metliod  is  now-a-days  too 
often  neglected  or  misap])lied.  The  scientific  princii)le 
does  not  ])rohibit  the  interference  of  government  with 
private  action  to  preserve  riglits  or  to  make  peo])le  secure 
in  their  enjoyment.     The  question  always  is.  How  can  tliis 


The  Scientific  Method.  331 

best  be  done  ?  How  can  we  cure  this  evil  without  entail- 
ing a  greater  ?  The  great  trouble  seems  to  be  the  cutting 
off  of  opportunities  for  men  to  work  and  earn,  and  the 
consequent  hopelessness  of  effort.  This  state  of  things 
never  can  be  helped  by  socialistic  or  nationalistic  measures, 
which  are  impracticable  in  their  nature  and  dangerous  in 
their  application.  They  are  only  to  be  relieved  by  remedial 
not  revolutionary  action,  aiming  to  restrain  the  power  of 
corporations,  to  check  monopolies,  to  prevent  frauds,  to 
secure  the  workman  his  wages,  and,  as  has  been  so  well 
urged  by  Prof.  Gunton,  in  securing  a  general  reduction  of 
the  hours  of  labor,  so  that  by  increasing  the  social  oppor- 
tunities of  the  workingman  he  may  become  an  integral 
part  of  the  community  and  thereby  better  his  economic 
situation.  Assaults  on  the  right  of  property  are  assaults 
on  liberty  and  life.  Holding  property  is  not  robbery,  and 
we  may  still  adhere  to  the  old-fashioned  doctrine  that 
taking  it  away  without  an  equivalent  is  robbery,  for  which 
there  is  no  justification.  "  But  it  is  necessary  that  I  live," 
said  the  thief  before  the  court,  in  extenuation  of  his  crime. 
"  I  do  not  see  the  necessity,"  wisely  replied  the  magistrate ; 
and  society  will  always  agree  with  him.  A  restriction  of 
propert^'-holding  is  the  utmost  that  can  legitimately  be 
urged.  Entailments  and  accumulations  by  will  have  been 
already  limited.  How  far  the  holding  of  both  real  and 
personal  property  by  one  individual  in  his  lifetime  can  be 
restricted,  is  a  proper  question  for  consideration,  but  cannot 
be  discussed  within  the  limits  of  tliis  paper.  For  ends 
which  involve  the  common  liberty  the  State  powers  always 
may  be  used ;  but  we  should  be  reluctant  to  permit  such 
interference  in  industrial  matters,  because  experience  has 
universally  shown  that  from  this  harm  is  more  apt  to 
result  than  good. 

Passing  now  to  our  political  conditions,  it  is  to  be 
remarked  that  the  chief  iniquity  at  present  is  the  use  of 
the  powers  of  governnient  and  official  position  for  private 
ends.  Abuse  of  public  trust  for  personal  gain  is  often  no 
bar  to  political  preferment.  It  is  common  for  those  in  office 
to  think  first  of  their  own  profit.  One  class  of  evils  is 
thus  presented.  Another  is  found  in  the  constant  use  of 
legislative  functions  to  support  private  interests.  To 
purify  our  governmental  offices  and  to  limit  legislation  to 
general  purposes  seem  to  be  the  two  things  of  transcendent 


332  Involution  and  Social  Reform : 

importance  in  American  politics,  the  country  over.  It  is 
hard  to  see  how  either  of  these  desiderata  is  to  be  obtained 
by  increasing  the  number  of  official  positions  and  functions 
and  creating  a  necessity  for  more  legislative  measures. 
Kather  it  would  seem  to  be  the  true  course  to  abolish  a 
great  many  of  the  offices  we  have,  and  to  dispense  with  a 
considerable  i)ortion  of  the  laws  on  our  statute-books.  The 
business  condition  of  the  country  is  much  better  settled 
Avhen  Congress  is  not  in  session.  Those  States  wliich  have 
adopted  for  their  legislatures  the  biennial  session  rule,  have 
found  it  greatly  to  their  advantage.  If  the  legislature 
seldom  meets  there  is  so  much  less  opportunity  for  schemes 
of  jobbery,  while  people  can  live  and  justice  be  adminis- 
tered under  the  organic  law  and  the  general  statutes  which 
all  our  States  have  had  from  the  beginning.  So-called 
"private  bills"  are  the  curse  of  our  Congressional  and 
State  legislation.  The  lower  house  of  Congress  has  almost 
ceased  to  be  availaljle  for  the  discussion  and  enactment  of 
measures  aifecting  the  general  welfare.  It  is  merely  a 
vehicle  for  the  promotion  of  ])rivate  schemes,  and  its  action 
is  the  resultant  of  the  conflict  of  j)rivate  interests,  each 
seeking  by  force,  frauds  or  compromise  the  passage  of  its 
own  bills.  It  Avere  far  better  to  have  no  legislature  for  an 
interval,  than  to  have  this  unseemly  strife  kept  up  through 
several  months  of  each  year.  In  executive  offices,  longer 
terms  and  stricter  accountability  will  tend  to  create  a  better 
state  of  things,  while  the  reforms  in  the  civil  service  which 
have  been  effected,  and  others  which  are  proposed,  are  of 
great  value  for  their  salutary  results. 

]>ut  it  is  not  so  nuicli  my  purpose  to  particularize  by 
indicating  si)ecial  reforms  for  special  cases,  as  to  remark 
the  fact  that,  in  America  and  in  England  at  least,  the 
])ractical  workers  for  reform,  and  their  proposed  measures, 
are  the  most  scientific.  In  England  this  is  illustrated  in 
the  new  and  simplified  judicial  i)r()cedure,  in  the  Corrupt 
I'ractices  Act,  and  in  the  various  Home  Kule  movements. 
In  our  own  country,  the  three  most  salient  reforms  of 
to-day  —  Civil-Service,  Tariff,  and  ]>allot-]leform  — are  tlie 
offspring  of  tlioi-ouglily  scientific  thought,  starting  from 
conditions,  gathering  the  facts,  exposing  the  evils  and  their 
causes,  and  selecting  the  a])propriate  remedy.  This  is  very 
encouraging.  Two  extreme  and  opposite  habits  of  mind 
should  always  1)0  avoided  and  deprecated;  the  one,  that  of 


The  Scientific  Method.  333 

the  theorist  and  doctrinaire,  who  has  found  one  general 
principle  which  so  possesses  his  mind  that  he  can  think 
of  no  other,  and  who  applies  it  in  season  and  out  of  season 
without  the  slightest  reference  to  conditions.  The  other 
hete  noire  is  the  man  who  is  so  short-sighted  that  he  never 
can  see  beyond  his  nose,  who  hates  a  theorist  much  more 
than  he  hates  the  devil,  because  he  regards  the  latter  as  a 
thoroughly  practical  being,  and  whose  thought  never 
transcends  the  expediency  of  the  moment.  Of  the  two, 
the  former  state  is  to  be  preferred.  It  is  better,  I  suppose, 
to  "hitch  your  Avagon  to  a  star,"— which  may  indeed  drag 
you  along  roughly,  not  always  in  the  road,  but  will  still 
keep  you  moving  over  magnificent  distances  and  cheer  you 
with  its  light.  If  on  the  other  hand  you  attach  it  to  a 
purbliiid  ass,  the  beast  will  take  you  nowhere,  but  will 
presently  demolish  your  vehicle,  and  perhaps  yourself,  with 
its  vicious  kicks.  The  true  method  for  politics  is  that 
described  by  Wordsworth  Donnisthorpe  in  a  recently  pub- 
lished work :  — "  The  need  should  be  insisted  on  for  the 
thorough  study  of  law  in  the  concrete,  and  the  discovery, 
not  the  manufacture,  of  the  true  statical  laws  which  are 
actually  operative  in  societies ;  of  their  tendency  and  of 
the  dynamical  laws  of  their  change  and  development.  It 
is  by  the  discovery  of  these  laws  that  we  shall  find  our- 
selves in  possession  of  true  and  useful  practical  guides 
through  the  labyrinth  of  legislation  and  politics.  .  .  .  The 
art  of  politics  is  the  application  of  the  science  of  nomology 
to  the  concrete,  just  as  engineering  is  the  application  to 
human  wants  of  the  science  of  mechanics,  and  as  naviga- 
tion is  one  of  the  arts  based  on  the  science  of  astronomy ; 
until  Ave  have  mastered  the  science  we  shall  make  little 
progress  with  the  corresponding  art.  .  .  .  To-day  we  are 
on  the  high  road  to  Socialism ;  to-morrow  the  fates  only 
know  Avhere  Ave  shall  be.  The  only  cure  for  this  policy  of 
drift  is  a  patient  and  intelligent  study  .  .  .  Avhereby  middle 
principles  of  practical  application  are  to  be  brought  to 
light  and  the  absurd  fallacies  of  social  doctrinaires  put  to 
flight  forever."* 

I  shall  not  pause  to  speak  of  practical  philanthropy, 
further  than  to  remind  you  that  charity  never  Avill  take  the 
place  of  justice,  and  is  at  best  the  temporary  not  the 
ultimate  relief  for  suffering  human  nature.     Largesse  will 

♦""Individualism;  A  System  of  Politics,"  IX. 


334  Evolution  and  Social  Reform: 

not  condone  oppression,  nor  benevolence  dispense  with 
equity. 

I  pass  on  to  say  a  word,  in  conclusion,  upon  what  is, 
after  all,  the  extreme,  the  fundamental  practical  method  of 
improving  society,  namely,  the  Educational.  To  this  we 
are  always  obliged  to  return.  "To  cure  the  soul,"  says 
Plato, —  "that  is  the  first  thing."  "He  that  doeth  my 
will,"  said  Jesus,  "shall  know  of  the  doctrine" — right 
action  will  bring  knowledge.  But  on  this  vast  theme  my 
limits  will  allow  me  to  touch  only  two  or  three  points, 
which  seem  just  noAV  to  demand  consideration. 

The  first  of  these  relates  to  the  importance  of  a  special 
institution,  namely,  the  public-school  system,  and  the 
increasing  of  its  opportunities  as  Avell  as  its  efficiency. 
The  scientific  ground  for  public  education  is  that  of 
security  to  the  State.  To  educate  at  public  expense  is  by 
far  the  most  economical  way  in  which  social  order  can  be 
promoted.  Schools  cost  less  and  are  much  more  efficient 
than  penitentiaries.  If  properly  conducted,  and  if  the 
system  be  so  constituted  as  to  secure  a  practically  universal 
education  as  far  as  the  course  goes,  the  community  will  be 
spared  much  trouble  and  the  process  of  renovating  humanity 
will  go  on  much  faster.  At  the  present  time  there  is  a 
disposition  in  many  quarters  to  dispense  with  or  curtail 
public-school  education.  This  has  appeared  on  both  scien- 
tific and  religious  grounds.  No  more  fatal  error  could  be 
committed.  The  day  when  public  schools  are  abolished  in 
any  American  community  will  be  a  dark  day.  To  educate 
the  young  person  in  character  and  in  knowledge,  particularly 
that  knowledge  which  relates  to  liis  duties  as  a  citizen,  is 
the  one  tiling  of  pai'amount  interest  to  the  State,  which  it 
never  can  afford  to  neglect;  for  upon  such  education, 
that  cannot  safely  be  left  to  private  effort,  depends  the 
maintenance  of  the  common  freedom  which  in  its  turn  is 
the  safeguard  of  individual  liberty  and  the  surety  of 
individual  development. 

Tlie  second  line  of  educational  effort  Avhich  I  propose  to 
indicate  looks  to  the  breaking  down  of  the  barrier  between 
business  and  social  life.  A  man  may  rob  and  steal  in 
business  ways  below  Fourteenth  Street,  when  above  that 
line  he  is  bound  in  honor  to  prefer  his  neighbor.  Business 
is  war,  audit  is  not  good  business  princi])le  to  "live  and 
let  live."     So  long  as  the  humanities  are  kept  out  of  the 


The  Scientific  Method.  335 

counting-liouse  or  the  store,  good  morals,  good  citizenship, 
good  character  cannot  be  depended  upon.  The  co-operative 
idea,  when  divested  of  its  socialistic  tendencies,  is  certainly 
worthy  of  encouragement  and  should  be  constantly  applied 
to  industrial  life.  This  would  involve,  in  addition  to  what- 
I  have  before  suggested,  some  system  of  profit-sharing,  and 
above  all  a  greater  permanence  and  certainty  of  tenure  in 
employment,  so  that  the  laborer  be  not  regarded  as  a 
machine  but  as  a  person,  be  provided  for  in  case  of  sickness, 
and  be  not  subject  to  dismissal  on  a  day's  notice,  irrespec- 
tive of  faithful  service,  at  the  supposed  interest  or  maybe 
the  whim  of  an  employer.  Beyond  this,  when  we  come  to 
the  relations  of  those  more  nearly  equal  in  business  life,  if 
we  cannot  have  sympathy  it  is  surely  not  too  much  to 
expect  honesty  (which  in  these  days  seems  to  be  going  out  of 
fashion),  and  a  state  of  morals  wherein  a  lie  is  not  con- 
sidered, as  it  has  been  styled,  "an  intellectual  mode  of 
meeting  a  difficulty." 

The  third  and  last  suggestion  I  have  to  offer  is  another 
caution.  It  is  said  that  "Knowledge  is  power,"  thereby 
implying  that  it  is  not  itself  the  ultimate  end  of  human 
life,  but  is  of  value  because  it  gives  a  wider  field  and  a 
greater  effectiveness  to  action.  The  strongest  desires  and 
aspirations  are  satisfied  only  in  an  activity  which  is  forever 
creating.  Knowledge,  indeed,  is  often  an  end  in  itself, 
because  learning  is  a  process  of  activity  which  selects  and 
forms  new  objects,  not  before  present,  to  the  mind ;  but  it 
is  only  under  the  stimulus  of  ideals  which  by  contrast 
produce  a  felt  insufficiency  of  present  conditions,  a  dissat- 
isfaction with  what  is,  that  the  process  of  self-development 
goes  on  to  its  fullest  consummation.  This  creative  instinct 
must  be  exercised,  or  it  will  become  atrophied,  and  then 
growth  ceases  and  decadence  begins.  We  must  therefore 
consider  that,  good  as  science  is,  it  is  in  the  art-impulse  and 
its  products  that  we  behold,  after  all,  the  source  and  the  end 
of  individual  and  social  progress.  It  is  in  the  unknown, 
which  furnishes  possibilities  of  knowing,  the  unachieved 
which  presents  possibilities  of  achievement,  that  we  find 
the  moving  cause  of  our  exertion  to  know  and  to  do.  It  is 
necessary  to  ascertain  what  is,  and  see  things  as  they  are  j 
but  if  we  become  accustomed  to  the  thought  that  scientific 
observation  and  experiment  iipon  phenomena  presented  is 
the  only  worthy  object  of  mental  activity,  we  sliall  be  in 


336  Evolution  and  Social  Reform. 

great  danger  of  drying  up  the  fountain  of  all  intellectual 
and  moral  vitality.  The  greatest  discoveries  of  science, 
themselves,  never  could  have  been  made  without  the  ideals 
of  art,  which  set  the  goal  for  science  to  reach ;  and  human 
life  never  has  been  made  better  save  under  the  inspiration 
of  some  ideal  of  perfection,  which  is  a  product  of  intellect- 
ual creativeness.  Let  us,  then,  not  make  the  mistake  of 
despising  art,  Avhose  aim  is  to  eliminate  the  painful  and 
disagreeable  and  to  produce  that  which  does  not  perish  in 
the  using.  Nor  should  we  seek  to  reduce  all  art  to  science, 
according  to  the  doctrine  of  M.  Zola  in  literature;  but 
rather  leave  room  for  the  movement  of  the  creative  spirit, 
which  loves  to  cast  off  the  trammels  of  the  earthy,  to  soar 
aloft  with  ethereal  wings,  to  enter  the  limitless,  to  burst 
into  the  unknown  and  hlch  therefrom  something  precious 
for  science  to  work  upon  and  reduce  to  orderly  relations. 
Our  life  in  the  actual  must  needs  occupy  us  most :  but  it  is 
in  the  sphere  of  the  possible,  not  yet  realized,  that  we  find 
the  renewing  and  strengthening  atmosphere,  breathing 
which  the  blood  is  sent  more  swiftly  through  our  veins, 
rendering  us  buoyant  and  able  for  the  tasks  before  us. 
While,  therefore,  we  should  respect  the  work  of  science,  and 
insist  on  true  science,  within  its  own  domain,  let  us  not 
forget  that  he  who  is  the  author  of  a  great  artistic  creation, 
clothing  matter  with  mind  and  moulding  Nature  to  express 
an  idea,  not  only  enriches  the  world  with  the  production  of  his 
genius,  but  also  exemplifies  that  man  may  walk  with  the 
gods,  that  he  is  himself  a  creator  and  finisher ;  and  even 
suggests  that  death  and  notliingness  are  after  all  but  names 
which  only  indicate  a  vast  reservoir  of  being  witliout 
beginning  or  end,  wherein  lies  concealed  and  from  wliich 
shall  spring  forth,  eternally  and  exhaustlessly,  an  ever- 
chanfrinGT  and  never-endin<j  life. 


ASA  GRAY:  HIS  LIFE  AND  WORK 


BY 


MRS.   MARY   TREAT 

Author  of  "  Home  Studies  ix  Nature,"  "  My  Garden  Pets, 
"Through  a  Microscope,"  etc. 


COLLATERAL  READINGS  SUGGESTED. 

"In  Memoriam  —  Asa  Gray  "(University  Press,  1888);  "Sketch 
of  Asa  Gray,"  in  A7n.  Journal  of  Science,  Vol.  35,  March,  1888; 
Article,  "Asa  Gray,"  in  "Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  Biography," 
also  article  in  "American  Cyclopaedia," 

(338) 


ASA    GRAY:     HIS    LIFE    AND    WORK.* 


Now  and  then  a  man  arises  whose  life  and  works  are  of 
such  magnitude  that  he  shapes  the  intellectual  growth  of  a 
nation  or  a  civilization,  moulding  and.  turning  thought  into 
a  new  channel.  Charles  Darwin,  like  Copernicus,  advanced, 
such  revolutionary  doctrines.  As  Copernicus  taught  the 
world  the  now  received  system  of  astronomy,  so  Darwin 
has  taught  the  origin  of  species  by  Natural  Selection. 
Before  Copernicus  the  world  did  not  move  —  it  was  per- 
manent, fixed,  central.  So  before  Darwin  the  species  which 
exist  on  the  earth  Avere  regarded  as  permanent  and  fixed, 
each  having  been  produced  by  a  special  creation.  But 
this  belief  is  fast  disappearing,  and  we  are  living  to  see 
Darwin's  teachings  recognized — not  by  the  slow  process 
by  which  the  Copernican  system  came  to  be  accepted,  but 
with  rapid  strides  due  to  the  advanced  thinkers  of  our  time, 
who  see  and  grasp  the  "new  thought"  as  men  could  not 
do  in  the  time  of  Copernicus. 

Copernicus  drew  upon  himself  and  his  theory  the  con- 
demnation of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  was  not  ob- 
literated until  1821,  two  hundred  and  eighty -seven  years 
after  it  was  issued  !  And  Galileo,  who  followed  Copernicus 
a  century  later,  was  imprisoned  in  the  cells  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion for  teaching  the  heretical  doctrine  that  the  earth 
moves.  Surely  the  world  has  advanced  during  the  past 
four  centuries,  so  that  in  our  time  "heresy"  simply  meets 
with  disapproval  and  ridicule. 

It  is  not  so  many  years  since  the  Darwinian  theory  was 
first  promulgated,  that  we  cannot  remember  the  fierce 
opposition  and  ridicule  with  which  it  was  received,  both  by 
the  pulpit  and  tlie  press.  Then,  it  needed  courage  and 
boldness  to  be  its  advocate.  In  this  country,  one  of  its 
earliest  disciples  was  Asa  Gray,  who  bravely  stepped  to  the 
front  of  the  battle  and  made  havoc  in  the  ranks  of  Darwin's 

*CoPYUiGHT,  1890,  by  James  H.  West. 


340  Asa  Gray:   His  Life  and  Work. 

opposers,  until,  largely  through  his  influence,  there  caine 
to  be  a  wide-spread  recognition  of  the  doctrine  of  Evolu- 
tion among  the  leading  representatives  of  biological  science. 
Indeed,  we  may  say  that  at  the  present  time  this  recogni- 
tion is  practically  universal. 

Asa  Gray  was  born  on  the  18th  of  November,  1810,  in 
Oneida  County,  New  York,  a  few  miles  south  from  Utica. 
He  was  the  eldest  of  eight  children,  and  from  his  earliest 
years  a  wide-awake,  active  child,  energetic  and  studious, 
winning  the  prize  of  a  spelling-book  before  he  was  three 
years  of  age.  When  six  and  seven  years  old  he  was  the 
champion  speller  in  the  district  school.  Following  him 
along  in  his  boyhood  we  learn  that,  when  eleven  years  of 
age,  having  exhausted  the  district-school  at  home,  he  was 
sent  to  a  grammar-school  in  Clinton,  where  he  staid  two 
years,  and  then  entered  Fairfield  Academy,  where  he 
remained  until  his  father  desired  him  to  leave  the  Academy 
and  enter  the  Fairfield  Medical  School.  This  was  in  the 
winter  of  182(5-27.  He  finished  his  medical  course  and 
received  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  the  spring  of 
1831. 

While  in  this  Medical  School  — in  the  winter  of  1827-28 
—  his  attention  was  aroused  in  botany  by  reading  an  article 
in  the  ''Edinborough  Encyclopaedia."  He  soon  obtained 
Eaton's  Botany,  which  he  studied  with  increasing  interest 
through  the  Winter,  and  longed  for  Spring  that  he  miglit 
test  his  knowledge  in  consulting  tlie  flora  around  him. 
AVhen  Spring  came  we  can  imagine  something  of  the  deliglit 
with  which  he  hailed  his  first  treasure,  the  little  Claijtonhi 
Virfjin'ica,  which  he  found  no  difficulty  in  assigning  to  its 
pro])er  place.  A  new  world  was  now  opened  around  him, 
and  from  this  time  on  he  saw  not  as  otliers  see.  Things 
were  revealed  to  him  that  were  blindly  passed  by  the  world 
at  large.  So  he  became  eyes  to  the  blind  and  a  medium  of 
knowledge  to  many  loving  followers. 

Although  he  received  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  ^fedicine, 
and  no  doubt  would  have  been  a  shining  light  in  the  world 
of  medical  science  had  he  chosen  the  career  of  physician, 
his  heart  was  not  there  ;  it  was  set  on  the  trees  and  flowers, 
the  growing  things  around  him,  and  his  far-reaching  mind 
grasi)ed  the  hidden  secrets  of  Nature  which  he  unveiled  to 
countless  niimbers  of  disci [)les. 

In  1834  he  became    connected  with   Dr.  John  Torrey, 


Asa  Gray :    His  Life  and  Work.  341 

which  resulted  in  a  close  relationship  and  a  life-long  friend- 
ship. For  a  time  he  studied  botany  under  Dr.  Torrey,  but 
he  soon  made  such  rapid  strides  that  he  was  no  longer 
under  but  with  him  in  united  labor.  Together  they 
botanized  in  northern  New  York  and  in  the  Pine-barrens  of 
New  Jersey.  In  the  same  year  he  became  Dr.  Torrey's 
assistant  in  the  Chemical  Laboratory  in  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New  York  City.  But  he 
remained  in  this  Medical  School  only  a  year  or  so,  as  it  was 
not  on  a  sufficiently  flourishing  financial  basis  to  warrant 
Dr.  Torrey  in  continuing  to  employ  an  assistant.  Torrey 
was  instrumental,  however,  in  secvxring  for  him  the  appoint- 
ment of  Curator  in  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  in 
New  York,  so  that  his  botanical  Avork  was  continued  under 
the  inspiring  influence  of  Dr.  Torrey  for  the  next  four  or 
five  years. 

In  his  twenty-fifth  year  he  issued  two  volumes  on  the 
grasses  and  sedges,  each  describing  a  hundred  species,  and 
illustrated  by  dried  specimens.  Among  the  grasses  was 
one  new  to  science,  Paneicum,  Xanthophysiim,  which  was  the 
first  of  the  thousands  of  unknown  species  afterward  named 
by  him.  In  1836  he  began  his  contributions  to  the 
American  Journal  of  Science,  which  he  continued  for  more 
than  fifty  years,  and  he  also  became  one  of  the  editors  of 
this  journal,  which  place  he  filled  for  thirty-five  years. 
About  this  time  (1835-36)  he  commenced  the  preparation 
of  the  <' Elements  of  Botany,"  which  he  published  in  1836. 
This  work  was  characterized  by  such  a  vigorous  style  and 
breadth  of  treatment  that  it  at  once  attracted  the  attention 
of  scientists,  and  paved  the  way  for  universal  recognition 
by  the  great  botanists  of  Europe  whom  he  visited  in 
1838.  This  visit  was  made  necessary  to  enable  him 
to  go  on  with  the  "North  American  Flora,"  of  which 
he  was,  at  that  early  age,  joint  author  with  Dr.  Torrey. 
Young  as  he  was,  hearts  were  opened  and  hands  held  out 
to  him  by  such  men  as  Kobert  Brown,  De  Candolle,  the 
elder  Hooker,  Lambert,  Bentham  and  Lindley,  at  that  time 
the  leading  botanists  of  Europe.  He  also  met  the  younger 
Hooker,  then  a  medical  student  in  Glasgow,  and  here  the 
foundation  was  laid  for  their  life-long  friendship.  Hooker, 
no  less  than  Gray,  was  destined  to  become  one  of  the 
leading  scientists  of  his  time  —  a  great  explorer  and  author, 
and   President  of   the  Royal  Society.     He  also  followed 


342  Asa  Gray:    His  Life  and  Work. 

liis  illustrious  father  as  Director  of  the  Royal  Gardens  at 
Kew,  which  position  he  still  holds. 

In  this  brief  sketch  it  will  be  impossible  to  follow  Dr. 
Gray  closely  in  his  travels,  or  to  enumerate  the  great  men 
he  met  during  the  year  he  remained  abroad.  But  he 
returned  home  full  of  inspiration,  with  enlarged  views,  and 
well  equipped  for  the  work  he  had  in  hand.  In  the 
yi m erica 71  Jommul  of  Science  (April,  1841)  he  jmblished  a 
very  interesting  article,  giving  an  account  of  tlie  herbaria 
he  examined  during  this  visit,  commencing  with  that  of 
Linnaeus,  which  is  told  in  such  a  happy  manner  that  it 
cannot  fail  to  interest  all  lovers  of  good  reading.  In  1842, 
the'  Fellows  of  Harvard  College  offered  him  the  Fisher 
Professorship  of  Natural  History,  which  had  just  then 
been  founded  under  the  will  of  Dr.  Fisher.  At  the  time 
of  Dr.  Gray's  appointment  there  was  no  botanical  library 
and  no  herbarium  in  the  College,  and  the  botanical  garden 
was  hardly  more  than  a  name.  What  are  they  to-day  — 
the  magnificent  library,  the  great  herbarium,  and  the 
garden !  Had  Dr.  Gray  done  nothing  more  for  the 
advancement  of  science  tlian  the  building  up  of  these,  this 
alone  would  have  made  him  immortal. 

The  same  year  that  he  was  made  Professor  in  the 
College  he  published  his  botanical  text-book,  "Structural 
and  Systematic  Botany,"  which  was  by  far  the  most 
comprehensive  and  valuable  work  on  botany  that  had 
appeared  in  our  country.  It  has  passed  through  six 
editions,  each  improved  and  almost  wholly  re-written.  The 
last  edition,  published  in  1879,  was  entirely  re-written.  In 
1848  his  "^Manual  of  tlie  Botany  of  the  Northern  United 
States"  was  printed.  For  more  than  thirty  years  this  book 
has  been  without  a  rival.  It  has  been  the  text-book  for  all 
botanists  in  the  Eastern,  Middle,  and  Northern  States  east 
of  the  ]\Iississii)pi.  It  is  so  plain  and  simple  in  its 
language  that  anyone  with  a  natural  love  of  jdants  needs 
no  other  instructor  to  enable  him  to  become  well-versed  in 
the  flora  of  these  regions.  The  influence  that  this  book 
has  wrought  in  schools  and  among  the  people,  in  arousing 
an  interest  in  botany,  is  beyond  calculation.  It  has  passed 
through  five  editions  and  sevei'al  issues.  In  the  fli'st 
edition  he  expresses  his  gratitude  to  Dr.  Torrey  in  the 
following  inscription  : 


Asa  Gray :   His  Life  and  Work.  343 

TO 

JOHN   TORllEY,  M.D., 
Corresponding  member  of  the  Linnsean  Society,  &c., 

THIS  VOLUME   IS   DEDICATED  BY  THE   AUTHOK, 

In  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  friendship  which  has  honored 

and  the  counsel  which  lias  aided  him 

from  the  commencement  of  his  botanical  pursuits. 

The  last  edition  was  published  in  1867.  This  also  bears 
testimony  of  his  continued  love  and  hearty  friendship  for 
Dr.  Torrey,  in  the  following  dedicatory  note : 


JOHN  TORREY,  L.L.D. 

Almost  twenty  years  have  passed  since  the  first  edition  of  this 
work  was  dedicated  to  you, —  more  than  thirty,  since,  as  your 
pupil,  I  began  to  enjoy  the  advantage  of  being  associated  with 
you  in  botanical  pursuits,  and  in  a  lasting  friendship.  The  flow 
of  time  has  only  deepened  the  sense  of  gratitude  due  to  you  from 
your  attached  friend,  AsA  Gkay. 

Cambridge,  May  30,  186*7. 

This  was  characteristic  of  Asa  Gray  —  he  was  a  steadfast 
friend,  giving  and  winning  aifection  wherever  he  went, 
always  acknowledging  the  helpfulness  of  others,  and  often 
magnifying  such  assistance. 

His  "Field,  Forest,  and  Garden  Botany,"  published  in 
1868,  is  an  admirable  guide  for  the  beginner  for  determin- 
ing the  common  cultivated  plants  as  well  as  the  native  ones. 
In  order  to  bring  it  within  the  compass  of  a  common-school 
text-book,  it  was  necessary  to  condense  the  descriptions  of 
the  wild  plants,  and  to  leave  out  altogether  the  most  rare 
and  obscure  ones.  This  is  no  detriment  to  the  beginner,- — • 
rather  an  advantage,  when  he  has  the  Manual  to  follow. 
Even  with  all  its  condensation  it  contains  descriptions  of 
2650  species,  belonging  to  947  genera.  And  the  "Lessons 
in  Botany  and  Vegetable  Physiology,"  which  preceded  it, 
with  over  three  hundred  original  illustrations  from  Nature 
by  Isaac  Sprague,  has  often  been  re-written  and  improved 
until  made  so  perfect  that  seemingly  no  other  book  could 
be  made  that  would  be  so  admirably  adapted  to  our  needs. 

We  must  not  overlook  two  other  charming  little  books, 
"How  Plants  Grow,"  first  published  in  1858,  and  "How 
Plants  Behave,"  in  1872.  These  Avere  written  for  young 
people  ;  but  many  grown  people  have  greatly  enjoyed  them 
and  drawn  inspiration  from  their  pages. 


344  Asa  Gruij :    Ills  Life  and  Work. 

But  the  greatest  of  all  of  Dr.  Gray's  botanical  Avorks  is 
his  "  Synoptical  Flora  of  Xorth  America,"  two  parts  of 
which  have  been  published, —  ''the  first  in  1878,  being  the 
first  part  of  Vol.  II.,  Ganiopetalte  after  Conii)osit3e,  that  is, 
the  portion  immediately  following  the  second  volume  of 
the  'Flora'  of  Torrey  and  Gray;  and  the  second,  in  1884, 
covering  the  ground  (Cai)rifoliaceaj  to  Compositae  inclusive) 
of  the  second  volume  of  Torrey  and  Gray's 'Flora.'  The 
middle  half  of  the  entire  Flora  is  thus  completed.  These 
volumes  contain  eight  hundred  and  fifty  closely  printed 
pages,  and  it  required  ten  years  of  excessive  and  hardly 
interrupted  labor  to  complete  them.  They  are  master- 
pieces of  clear  and  concise  arrangement  and  of  compact- 
ness and  beauty  of  method.  There  will  hardly  be  found 
in  any  work  of  descriptive  botany  a  greater  display  of 
learning,  clearness  of  vision  and  analytical  powers;  and 
few  works  of  systematic  botany  have  ever  treated  of  a 
broader  field."  * 

When  we  consider  how  much  of  the  work  on  nearly  all 
of  these  educational  books  —  with  the  exception  of  the 
"Flora" — was  accomplished  while  Dr.  Gray  scrupulously 
performed  all  of  his  college  duties,  we  get  some  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  man. 

His  writings  and  influence  have  done  as  much  toward 
the  advancement  of  general  science,  and  especially  toward 
the  growth  of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution,  as  his  text-books 
have  done  for  the  advancement  of  botany.  One  of  his 
earliest  papers,  showing  the  tendency  of  his  mind  in  the 
direction  of  evolution,  was  his  observations  upon  the 
"  Relations  of  the  Japanese  Flora  to  that  of  Korth 
America."  I  will  quote  what  his  colleague.  Professor  C.  8. 
Sargent,  says  of  this  work : 

In  18.54  lie  publi.slied  the  "Botany  of  the  Wilkes  Exploring  Ex- 
])edition,"  a  larj^e  (juarto  volume,  accompanied  by  a  folio  atlas 
containing  a  hundred  inagnihcent  i)lat(!s  ;  and  in  IS.jO  he  read  his 
paper,  afterward  published  in  the  "Memoirs  of  tiie  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,"  upon  tlie  "Diagnostic  Characters 
of  Certain  New  Species  of  Plants,  collected  in  Jajtan  by  Charles 
Wright,  with  observations  upon  the  delations  of  the  Japanese 
Flora  to  that  of  North  America,  and  of  other  parts  of  the  northern 
temperate  zone." 

This  is  Professor  Gray's  most  remarkable  contribution  to  science. 
It  at  once  raised  liim  to  the  very  highest  rank  among  philosophi- 


*  From  a  s<k<'toli  of  Dr.  Cray  in  the  Xew    York  Snn  of  January  .3,  188C,  by 
I'rofessor  (".  S.  Sargent. 


Asa   Gray:    His  Life  and   Work.  345 

cal  naturalists,  and  attracted  to  him  the  attention  of  the  whole 
scientific  world.  In  tliis  paper  he  first  points  ont  tlie  similarity 
between  the  floras  of  Eastern  North  America  and  Japan,  a  fact 
he  had  long  svispected,  and  then  explains  the  peculiar  distribution 
of  plants  through  the  Northern  Hemisphere,  by  tracing  their 
direct  descent  through  geological  periods  from  ancestors  whicli 
flourished  when  there  was  a  tertiary  vegetation.  This  tlieory  of 
geographical  distribution,  now  generally  adopted  by  all  naturalists, 
was  further  elaborated  in  his  lecture  upon  "Sequoia  and  its 
History,"  delivered  in  1872  before  the  American  Associaticm  for 
tlie  Advancement  of  Science,  and  still  later  in  a  lecture  entitled 
"Forest  Geography  and  Archteology,"  delivered  in  1878  before 
the  Harvard  Natural  History  Society. 

These  studies  of  the  flora  of  Japan  had  doubtless  greatly  mod- 
ified Professor  Gray's  opinion  upon  the  origin  of  species,  a  subject 
which  was  just  then  beginning  to  deeply  interest  the  intellectual 
world.  He,  like  the  younger  De  Candolle  and  Hooker,  was  now 
ready  to  admit  the  doctrine  of  the  local  origin  of  vegetable 
species,  and  to  discard  the  hypothesis  of  a  double  or  multiple 
origin,  at  that  time  and  long  afterward  adhered  to  by  many 
botanists.  That  is,  he  believed  that  two  similar  or  closely  allied 
species  of  plants,  the  one,  for  example,  growing  in  New  England 
and  the  other  in  Japan,  were  descended  from  one  common 
although  remote  ancestor,  and  that  they  were  not,  as  Schouw  and 
Agassiz  insisted,  created  separately  and  independently  in  the 
I'egions  where  they  now  exist. 

Dr.  Gray  more  than  any  other  man  in  America  lias  made 
the  doctrine  of  Evolution  what  it  is  to-day  ;  and  he  has 
made  Darwin  better  understood  and  appreciated  than  all 
other  writers  combined.  And  yet  he  did  not  wholly  agree 
w^th  Darwin  in  some  particulars.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Gray, 
INIr.  Darwin  says,  "  I  grieve  to  say  that  I  cannot  go  as  far 
as  you  do  about  design.  I  cannot  think  the  "world  as  we  see 
it  is  the  result  of  chance,  and  yet  I  cannot  look  at  each 
separate  thing  as  the  result  of  design."  But  Dr.  Gray  was 
so  deeply  grounded  in  the  Christian  faith  that  nothing 
could  swerve  him.  He  believed  that  the  Darwinian  theory 
of  the  origin  of  species  was  entirely  reconcilable  with  the 
conception  of  a  Divine  Power  governing  the  universe.  He 
believed  "that  each  variation  has  been  specially  ordained 
or  led  along  a  beneficial  line." 

In  the  closing  paragraph  of  an  address  delivered  before 
the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
in  1872,  on  "  Sequoia  and  its  History,"  he  touches  the  key- 
note of  his  religious  belief.  After  quoting  Miss  Frances 
Power  Cobbe's  regrets  that  we  no  sooner  find  out  how  any- 
thing is  done,  than  our  first  thought  is  that  God  did  not  do 


346  Asa  Gray:    HU  Life  and  Work. 

it,  he  agrees  with  her  that  this  conclusion  is  unworthy  — 
"  nay  more,  dejjlorable."  Then  follows  these  brief,,  vivid 
words  :  "  Through  what  faults  or  infirmities  of  dogmatism 
on  the  one  hand  and  skepticism  on  the  other  it  came  to  be 
so  thought,  we  need  not  here  consider.  Let  us  hope,  and  I 
confidently  expect,  that  it  is  not  to  last ;  that  the  religious 
faith  which  survived  without  a  shock  the  notion  of  the 
fixity  of  the  earth  itself,  may  equally  outlast  tlie  notion  of 
the  fixity  of  the  species  which  inhabit  it ;  that  in  the 
future  even  more  than  in  the  past  faith  in  an  order  whicli 
is  the  basis  of  science  will  not —  as  it  cannot  reasonably  — 
be  dissevered  from  faith  in  an  Ordainer,  which  is  the  basis 
of  religion." 

In  1876  Dr.  Gray  brought  together  his  various  papers  on 
Evolution  and  kindred  subjects,  which  had  appeared  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Science,  the  Nation,  and  the  Atlantic 
Mo7ithly,  and  published  them  in  a  book,  under  the  title  of 
"Darwiniana."  In  the  preface  to  this  book  he  defines  his 
religious  belief  in  a  short,  clear  passage,  where  it  stands  to 
remind  us  that  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  age  found 
no  difficulty  in  harmonizing  the  "new  thought,"  or  Evolu- 
tion, with  Christianity  :  "  1  am  scientifically  and  in  my 
own  fashion  a  Darwinian,  philosophically  a  convinced 
theist,  and  religiously  an  acceptor  of  the  creed  commonly 
called  the  Nicene,  as  the  exponent  of  the  Christian  faith." 

His  contributions  to  Evolution,  and  his  views  on  the 
subject,  are  better  known  to  the  world  at  large  than  "his 
rank  and  position  as  a  teacher  of  natviral  science."  He 
was  a  born  teacher.  He  drew  students  to  him  by  his 
kindly,  genial  nature.  His  interest  in  their  work  was  a 
remarkable  trait  in  his  character.  His  correspondents  felt 
his  friendly  influence  permeating  their  lives,  giving  them 
fresh  impulse  and  inspiration  in  their  work.  Even  students 
whom  he  had  never  met  were  cordially  and  most  heartily 
given  any  assistance  in  his  power,  in  the  way  of  suggestion 
and  even  in  mapjjing  out  methods  of  work  for  them  to 
follow.  During  all  the  years  of  his  busy  life,  helpful, 
suggestive  letters  Avere  written  with  his  own  hand,  encour- 
aging stud-^nts  to  go  on  with  their  work  and  publish  its 
results.  But  for  him,  the  work  of  many  a  botanical 
student  Avould  never  have  been  known. 

Having  access  to  some  of  his  letters  to  a  correspondent, 
I  have  been  looking  them  over  with  a  view  to  giving  a  few 


Asa  Gray:   His  Life  and  Work.  347 

extracts  to  illustrate  his  manner  of  guiding  and  instructing. 
The  correspondent  had  a  little  plat  of  ground  under 
observation,  which  had  never  been  disturbed  by  man 
further  than  in  the  cutting  away  of  the  underbrush  and 
part  of  the  trees  ;  Dr.  Gray  was  given  a  list  of  the  herba- 
ceous plants  that  were  growing  on  the  spot,  and  here  is  his 
reply : 

Your  letter  of  the  12th,  so  full  of  interest,  was  followed  this 
evening  by  the  box,  which  I  wait  for  daylight  before  opening. 
But  I  will  not  delay  most  hearty  thanks  for  your  very  kind  atten- 
tion to  my  requests.  I  am  dreadfully  pressed  with  work  now, 
being  on  the  eve  of  completing  a  new  lecture-room  and  cabinet, 
laboratory,  etc.,  here  in  the  Garden,  and  many  things  and  various 
workmen  have  to  be  looked  after,  so  that  I  cannot  sit  down  till 
night,  and  then  am  tired  enough.  .  .  . 

Your  lawn  flora  is  very  interesting.  Kow,  you  would  do  a 
good  thing  if  you  would  keep  a  record  of  this,  and  next  year  note 
any  changes  —  i.  e.,  any  overcome,  or  any  new-comers.  And  so 
on  year  after  year.  I  anticipate  many  changes.  But  as  it  is,  it 
illustrates  Darwin's  remark  upon  the  advantages  of  diversity. 
You  have  vastly  more  vegetation  on  the  space  than  could  be  if 
restricted  to  one  or  few  species. 

There  are  a  good  many  plants  on  your  lawn  which  I  would 
gladly  have  in  our  Garden.  .  .  . 

Xo,  I  have  not  Xeroyliyllum,  nor  tlie  lovely  Pyxidanthera.  I 
tried  both  once,  and  lost  them,  but  I  long  to  try  again.  Will  you 
help  me  to  them  in  early  Spring  ?  What  did  your  Penn  Yan  friend 
do  to  make  Pyxidanthera  grow  ? 

Writing  of  tliese  plants  brings  back  most  vividly  my  pine- 
barren  botanizing  of  30  to  35  years  ago  !  .   .  . 

The  above  letter  was  soon  followed  by  another,  showing 
his  interest  in  the  correspondent's  observations  on  Drosera. 
It  was  understood  between  Dr.  Gray  and  his  correspondent 
that  either  could  ■'ise  what  the  other  had  written  about 
Drosera  and  otiier  plants.  In  one  of  the  letters  before  me 
Dr.  Gray  says,  ''You  can  use  anything  that  I  say  about 
Drosera  for  publication,  and  I  want  the  same  privilege." 

.  .  .  About  the  Drosera  longifolia  (which  the  species  you  describe 
certainly  is).  The  folding  of  the  blade  of  the  leaf  itself  arotmd 
the  insect,  which  I  understand  you  to  describe,  is  very  interesting, 
and  I  liave  copied  your  statement  for  publication.  .  .  . 
I  wish  I  had  a  pencil-sketch  of  tliis  fly-catching.  .  .  . 
I  am  preparing  a  new  edition  of  "IIow  Plants  Grow," — with 
three  new  chapters, — viz., 

How  Plants  move,  climb,  and  take  positions. 
How  Plants  employ  Insects  to  work  for  them. 
How  certain  Plants  capture  Insects. 


348  Asa  Gray :    Jits  Life  and  Work. 

This  leads  me  to  ask,  Have  yoii  any  butterflies  or  moths  with 
orchid  pollen-masses  attaclied  to  head  or  eye  ?  .  .  . 

Platanthcra  Ciliaris, —  how  I  wanted  it  last  Summer  !  If  you 
could  lind  it  now  —  roots,  even,  would  delight  me.  .  .  . 

More  than  a  year  after  the  above  letter  ^vas  i^enned,  we 
find  his  interest  still  continued  in  Drosera  : 

Thanks  for  the  plants  which  came  in  nice  order.  .  .  . 

In  Spring,  as  soon  as  they  can  be  found,  I  warit  some  bulbs  of 
Dronera  jiliformiH,  and  that  you  should  also  make  some  observa- 
tit>ns  which  Darwin  wants  to  be  made.     But  he  will  write  to  you. 

Two  years  later  he  writes  about  another  insectivorous 
plant : 

Thanks  for  yours  of  Dec.  2.  .  .  . 

The  Tn6?me  will  be  glad  to  have  your  article  about  Bladderwort, 
pending.  As  usual,  Darwin  is  ahead  of  you.  But  he  has  pub- 
lished nothing  yet,  only  hints  have  appeared- — and  he  will  be 
pleased  that  you  have  hit  on  it.  If  you  prepare  an  article  for  the 
Tribune  I  would  have  some  drawings  made  to  show  the  bladders 
in  wood-cuts. 

Always  call  on  mo,  if  I  cau  aid  in  any  way.  Dear  Dr.  Hooker 
(Kew)  has  lost  his  wife  suddenly. 

Still  later,  he  is  interested  in  the  Florida  Plnfjulcuhts,  and 
writes  under  date  of  March  C),  1S77  : 

Those  Pinf/iiirtildx  around  you  are  such  nice  things  for  their  way 
of  cross-fertilizing  that  1  li()i)e  you  are  studying  tliem  and  seeing 
what  insects  do  it.  .  .  . 

Again  on  jMarch  lO,  1(S77  : 

Well,  if  that  little  Ilymenopter  is  the  right  one,  his  tongue  will 
be  long  enough  to  reacli  from  tlie  top  of  tlu;  si)ur  (hctttom  of  sac) 
down  to  the  nectar.  Please  catch  and  send  me  one  or  two,  or 
more,  and  1  will  lind  his  name. 

Pray  work  up  an  article  on  these  I'iiKjttinilu. 

A  bee  would  fertilize  much  better  than  a  butterfly,  if  he  could 
get  in  —  as  you  will  see  on  looking. 

What  do  you  say  ?  Shall  I  si-iid  you  the  '•Darwiniana"  book, 
or  wait  till  you  come  Nortli  ?  .   .   . 

On  ^lay  14tli  of  tlie  same  year  tliis  ])aragraph  occiirs  in 
anotlicr  letter:  '-As  to  Pin'/iitculd,  I  liave  had  Sprague 
make  good  outline-skctclies  and  dissections  to  show  tlit^ 
most,  and  hav(>  laid  tlu'iu  up  for  future  vse  —  yours  and 
l)erliaps  mine.  .  .  .  Tlic  jn-inter  kee})S  me  awfully  busy." 

Interestcil  as  he  \v;is  in  these  insectivorous  ])l;ints,  and 
es])ecially    in    ])arwiirs    Avork,   helping    liim    by   directing 


Asa  Gray :    Ills  Life  and  Work.  349 

observations  on  this  side  of  the  water  and  furnishing  him 
directly  -with  material  for  his  forthcoming  work  on  "In- 
sectivorous Plants,"  yet  when  the  book  appeared  he  was  for 
a  long  time  too  busy  to  read  it : 

Herbarium  of  Harvard  University, 
Botanic  Garden,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  29  July,  1875. 
You  will  hardly  credit  it  —  that  I  have  had  Darwin's  book  for  a 
fortnight  and  have  not  yet  found  time  to  read  over  twenty  or 
thirty  pages.     That  shows  you  how  busy  I  am,  and  with  much  less 
interesting  work  —  but  work  that  is  both  necessary  and  pressing. 

We  can  now  better  understand  why  Asa  Gray  was  so 
universally  honored  and  loved  by  such  a  wide  circle  of 
students  and  botanists,  as  well  as  by  many  distinguished  men 
in  other  departments  of  science.  With  all  his  multifarious 
work,  he  was  ever  the  kind  helper  and  teacher.  Professor 
Sargent  tells  us  that  "he  was  a  foreign  member  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London  ;  he  was  a  foreign  member  also 
of  the  Institute  of  France,  one  of  the  'immortal  eight'; 
and  long  ago  he  was  welcomed  into  all  the  less  exclusive 
bodies  of  European  savants.  He  served  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  as  its  President,  presided 
over  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  and  was  a  regent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution." 
On  his  seventy-fifth  birthday  tlie  botanists  of  our  country 
united  in  sending  him  messages  of  affection  and  esteem, 
accompanied  by  a  silver  vase.  The  Botanical  Gazette  of 
December,  1885,  tells  the  story  of  the  presentation,  and 
gives  a  description  of  the  vase  as  follows  : 

The  vase  "is  about  eleven  inches  high,  exclusive  of  the  ebony 
pedestal,  which  is  surrounded  by  a  hoop  of  hammered  silver, 
bearing  the  inscription, 

1810     November  eighteenth,     1885 

ASA  GRAY 

in  token  of  the  universal  esteem 

of  American  Botanists. 

"The  lower  part  of  the  vase  is  fluted  and  the  upper  part  cov- 
ered with  flowers.  The  place  of  honor  on  one  side  is  held  by 
Gruyia  Poli/'jaloides,  and  on  the  other  by  Shortia  galaclfolia.  On 
the  Grayiii  side  of  the  prominent  plants  are  Aquilegia  Canadensis, 
Centaurea  Americana^  Jcffersonin  diphylla,  Rudbeckia  speciosa,  and 
Mitchella  repens.  On  the  Shortia  side  there  are  Lilium  Grayi, 
Aster  Bigelovii,  Solidago  serotina  and  Epigoia  repens.  The  lower 
part  of  the  handles  runs  into  a  cluster  of  Dinnaa  leaves,  which 
clasps  the  body  of  the  vase,  and  their  upper  parts  are  covered  with 


350  Asa  Gray:    His  Life  ayid  Work. 

Notholcena  Grayi.  Adlumia  cirrhosa  ti-ails  over  the  whole  back- 
ground, and  its  leaves  and  flowers  crop  out  here  and  there.  The 
entire  surface  is  '  oxidized,'  which  gives  greater  relief  to  the 
decorations.  The  vase  was  designed  by  L.  E.  Jenks,  and  the 
chasing  was  done  by  Wm.  J.  Austin,  both  with  Bigelow,  Kennard 
tfe  Co.  The  heartiest  praise  has  been  bestowed  upon  tho  design 
and  the  workmanship  by  all  who  have  seen  it. 

"By  the  request  of  the  committee,  greetings  in  the  form  of 
cards  and  letters  had  been  sent  by  those  who  gave  the  vase.  These 
were  placed  on  a  simple  but  elegant  silver  plate  and  accompanied 
the  gift.     The  inscription  on  the  plate  reads  : 

Bearing  the  Greetings  of 

One  hundred  and  eighty  Botanists 

of  North  America,  to 

ASA  GRAY, 

On  his  Seventy-fifth  Birthday, 

November  18th,  1885. 

"The  expressions  of  affection  and  respect  which  are  contained 
in  letters  to  the  committee  as  well  as  those  which  were  presented 
to  the  good  Doctor,  together  with  the  united  and  hearty  response 
to  the  Committee's  suggestion,  all  testify  how  luiiversal  is  the 
esteem  and  how  deep  is  the  affection  for  this  genial  man,  whom 
we  have  thus  delighted  to  honor." 

The  following  response  was  sent  by  Dr.  Gray : 

Herbarium  of  Harvard  University, 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  November  19,  1885. 
To  J.  C.  Arthur,  C.  K.  Barnes,  J.  M.  Coulter,  Committee,  and  to 
the  numerous  Botanical  Brotherhood  represented  by  them  : 

As  I  am  quite  unable  to  convey  to  you  in  words  any  adequate 
idea  of  the  gratification  I  received  on  the  morning  of  the  18th 
inst.,  from  the  wealth  of  congratulations  and  exiiressions  of 
esteem  and  affection  which  welcomed  my  seventy-fifth  birthday, 
I  can  do  no  more  than  to  render  to  each  and  all  my  heartiest 
tlianks.  Among  fellow-botanists,  more  j)leasantly  connected  tlian 
in  any  other  pursuit  by  mutual  giving  and  receiving,  some  recog- 
nition of  a  rather  uncommon  anniversary  might  naturally  be 
expected.  But  this  full  How  of  benediction  from  the  wliole  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land,  whose  flora  is  a  common  study  aiicl  a 
comnKm  delight,  was  as  unexpected  as  it  is  touching  and  mem- 
orable. Equally  so  is  the  exquisite  vase  which  accompanied  tlie 
messages  of  congratulation  and  is  to  commemorate  them,  and 
ui)on  which  not  a  few  of  the  llowers  associated  with  my  name  or 
with  my  special  studies  are  so  deftly  wrought  by  art  that  of  them 
one  may  almost  say,  "The  art  itself  is  nature." 

The  gift  is  gratefully  received,  and  it  will  preserve  the  memory 
to  tiiose  who  come  after  us  of  a  day  made  by  you,  dear  bretlireu 
and  sisters,  a  very  hapj)y  one  to 

Yours  affectionately,  Asa  (iUAv. 


Asa  Gray :   His  Life  and  Work.  351 

Dr.  Gray's  correspondence  with  Darwin  dates  from  1855, 
commencing  with  a  request  of  Darwin  for  a  list  of  Amer- 
ican Alpine  plants.  From  this  time  on  their  correspondence 
continued,  and  their  friendship  was  close  and  intimate 
until  Mr.  Darwin's  death,  as  is  shown  in  "Darwin's  Life 
and  Letters,"  and  also  in  Dr.  Gray's  printed  writings. 

In  1885,  Dr.  Gray's  portrait  was  made  in  bronze  by  St. 
Gaudens,  and  presented  to  Harvard  University.  But  one 
of  the  best  pictures  that  has  been  left  to  us  was  taken 
while  he  was  on  a  botanical  excursion  in  the  Eocky 
Mountains.  It  represents  a  group  of  botanists  in  camp  on 
Veta  Pass,  9000  feet  above  the  sea.  Dr.  Gray  sits  on  the 
ground  beneath  the  trees,  with  uncovered  head,  holding 
evidences  of  his  work  in  a  well-filled  botanical  press.  Sir 
Joseph  Hooker  is  by  his  side,  with  freshly  gathered  plants 
in  his  hand.  Mrs.  Gray  is  at  the  table  dispensing  tea  to 
Dr.  Hayden,  Dr.  Lamborn,  Stevenson,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished members  of  the  party.  It  is  a  vivid,  life-like 
scene  —  a  picture  cherished  by  many. 

But  Asa  Gray's  memory  will  be  perpetuated  and  cherished 
without  the  aid  of  pictures, —  it  is  forever  associated 
with  natural  objects  more  enduring  than  the  monumental 
shaft.  The  loftiest  peak  of  the  Rocky  Moimtains  bears 
his  name,  and  many  lowly  plants  in  the  vales  com- 
memorate it,  breathing  it  anew  in  their  annual  resurrec- 
tion. These  will  keep  his  memory  fresh  through  the 
ages  to  come.  His  work  and  deeds  can  never  die.  Our 
own  poet  of  Nature  has  said  of  Truth,  "  The  eternal  years 
of  God  are  hers."  All  the  labors  and  all  the  thoughts  of 
Asa  Gray  were  consecrated  to  the  discovery  and  service  of 
the  Truth  —  and  by  this  loving  constancy  of  devotion  they 
are  assured  an  immortality  of  beneficent  influence. 


352  Asa  Gvaij:    His  Life  and  Work. 


ABSTRACT    OF    THE    DISCUSSION. 

Miss  Eliza  A.  Youm ans  :  — 

l.v  Mrs.  Treat's  admirable  account  of  Prof.  Gray's  intellectual 
career  she  has  given  the  simple  facts  concerning  the  times  at  which 
his  various  works  were  published,  and  the  exalted  estimate  put 
upon  them  both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  "North  American 
Flora,"  however,  she  pronounces  his  most  important  work,  and 
her  account  of  his  labors  upon  it  seems  to  require  further  expla- 
nation. The  first  volume,  she  says,  appeared  in  1S40,  the  second 
in  1848,  and  the  next  instalment  not  until  1878,  after  an  interval 
of  thirty-five  years.  As  its  discontinuance  dates  from  the  time  of 
his  acceptance  of  the  Fisher  Professorship  of  Natural  History  in 
Harvard  College,  and  its  resumption  immediately  followed  his 
release  from  official  duties,  which,  I  learn,  took  place  in  187^?, 
giving  him  live  years  for  the  preparation  of  the  volume  of  1878, 
the  quite  natural  inference  would  be  that  his  official  work  left 
him  no  time  to  give  to  the  preparation  of  the  "Flora."  But  we  are 
debarred  from  this  conclusion  by  the  detailed  and  emphatic 
statements  of  Mrs.  Treat  concerning  the  vast  amount  of  labor  he 
did  outside  his  college  duties.  His  text-books  and  manuals  were 
all  done  in  tlie  evening,  and  at  odd  hours;  and  his  labors  as  a 
critic  consumed  a  great  deal  of  time.  He  was  so  familiar  with  all 
sides  of  the  scientific  questions  bearing  upon  his  specialty,  so  just 
and  discriminating  and  candid,  that  his  opinions,  criticisms  and 
advice  were  eagerly  sought  for.  His  Reviews,  Book-notices,  and 
Biographical  sketches  are  almost  endless. 

In  the  introduction  to  tlie  two  volumes  of  the  "Scientific 
Pa])ers  of  Asa  Gray,  selected  by  Charles  8i)rague  Sargent,"  the 
<'omi)iler  says:  "The  selection  of  articles  of  his  for  re-i)ublication 
has  been  an  embarassing  and  difficult  task.  Tlie  amount  of 
material  at  my  disposal  has  been  overwlielming;  and  desirable  as 
it  miglit  be  to  republish  it  all,  it  has  not  been  possible  to  do  so 
witliin  reasonable  limits.  JMore  than  eleven  hundred  bibliograph- 
ical notices  and  longer  reviews  were  ])ublislied  by  Prof,  (iray  in 
different  periodicals,  and  it  was  necessary  to  exclude  a  number  of 
])ai)ers  of  nearly  as  great  interest  as  those  wliicli  are  chosen." 
Clearly,  then,  it  was  not  lack  of  time  tliat  kei)t  Dr.  (iray  from 
going  on  with  tlie  "  Flora."  Why  then,  in  the  name  of  Botanical 
science  if  not  of  common  sense,  did  not  Prof.  Gray,  during  these 
years,  S])end  the  time  saved  from  official  duties  in  carrying  (Ui  the 
great  work  on  which  his  heart  was  st't;  Avliich  he  alone  of  all  men 
was  by  nature  and  culture  so  fitted  to  execute,  and  which  was  so 
strenuously  called  for  by  the  world  of  science?  Why  was  its 
I'esumpticui  ]iost))on('d  fill  the  later  years  of  life,  so  that  his  eyes 
were  not  ])ermitte(l  to  biOiold  its  final  accomi^lisliment  ?  Accord- 
iiiiT  to  Mrs.  Treat,  "lie  had  eairied  it  on  to  the  conclusion  of  tlie 
middle  half  of  the  entire  Flora,"  and  there  it  is  left  for  other 
hands   to   finish.     Or,  may  we   not   reasonably  ask,  why  was   it 


Asa  Gray :    His  Life  and  Work.  353 

postponed  at  all  ?  It  was  evidently  not  in  the  plan  of  Mrs.  Treat's 
paper  to  raise  questions  or  to  answer  them.  But  I  have  in  my 
possession  an  explanation  of  this  seeming  difficulty.  It  was  given 
by  that  great  scientific  explorer  and  life-long  friend  of  Prof.  Gray, 
Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  and  it  furnishes  matter  for  serious  reflection. 
In  the  summer  of  1871,  just  two  years  before  Prof.  Gray  was 
relieved  from  college  duties,  and  while  men  of  science  were 
impatient  and.  aggravated  at  his  situation,  Mr.  E.  L.  Youmans, 
who  was  then  in  London  busy  in  establishing  the  "International 
Scientific  Series,"  received  a  note  from  Dr.  Hooker  asking  him  to 
come  over  to  Kew  and  dine  with  him,  as  he  was  quite  alone.  Mr. 
Youmans  was  on  the  lookout  for  eminent  scientists  to  write  books 
for  the  series,  and  while  at  dinner  the  talk  ran  upon  men  of  this 
class.  The  next  day  Mr.  Youmans  gave  an  account  of  his  visit  in 
a  letter  to  his  Xew  York  correspondent,  and  the  pertinence  to  this 
subject  of  Dr.  Hooker's  remarks,  as  reported  in  this  letter,  will, 
I  think,  justify  the  liberty  I  take  in  repeating  them  liere. 

Tlie  allusion  to  Prof.  Gray's  situation  was  suggested  by  the  talk 
concerning  Mr.  Spencer.  Dr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Youmans  had  been 
discussing  one  and  another  great  man,  when  Dr.  Hooker  said: 
"Spencer  is  the  mighty  thinker  among  them;  and  he  is  all  right 
now.  The  recognition  of  hi ;  genius  is  complete.  What  a  lucky 
thing  it  was  that  he  failed  in  getting  an  official  appointment  when 
he  began  his  philosophy.  Had  he  succeeded  we  never  should 
have  heard  of  the  philosophy.  The  things  are  absolutely  incom- 
patible. No  man  can  do  great  oriyinal  work  and  be  hampered 
with  the  cares  of  a  position.  The  thing  is  impossible.  The  work 
must  have  the  whole  man.  That  is  why  I  have  tried  to  get  Gray 
free.  You  Americans  don't  know  how  much  of  a  man  Gray  is; 
but  he  is  hampered  with  students'  work  and  is  not  able  to  keep 
an  assistant.  When  you  were  working  for  Spencer  on  the  other 
side,  I  was  working  for  Gray  here.  I  thought  I  had  got  it 
arranged.  I  obtained  a  promise  from  Peabody  to  give  money 
enough  to  relieve  Gray  and  let  him  go  on  with  original  icork  ;  but 
when  he  got  over  there,  they  worked  at  him  and  defeated  all  the 
good  of  the  plan." 

Happily,  two  years  later,  Gray  was  made  free,  and  began  again 
his  "North  American  Flora,"  which  is  at  every  step  and  in  all  its 
details  a  work  of  original  research.  There  is  only  now  and  tlien 
a  man  who  is  capable  of  carrying  on  original  investigations  in  any 
branch  of  science.  Successful  research  implies  an  accurate 
acquaintance  with  pre-existing  knowledge  in  the  field  to  be 
explored.  It  demands  keen  logic  and  cool  judgment,  and  nut 
these  alone.  People  with  great  learning,  fine  reasoning  powers 
and  high  judicial  faculty  are  not  so  very  rare.  But  the  original 
investigator,  the  discoverer  of  principles  and  of  laws,  must  have, 
joined  with  these  weighty  elements,  the  gift  of  a  lively  imagina- 
tion. Prof.  Gray  was  such  a  man,  and  Dr.  Hooker  and  Mr. 
Bentham,  along  with  him  —  the  great  leaders  and  originators  in 
botanical  science  in  our  day  —  are  men  of  this  order.  Let  me 
give  you  an  example  of  the  estimate  put  upon  this  faculty  by  a 
botanist  who  knows. 

Prof.  Sachs, in  his  masterly  sketch  of  the  development  of  botany 
from  1530  to  1860,  says:    "I  have   made   it   my  chief  object   to 


35 i  Asa  Gray:    His  Life  and  Work. 

discover  the  first  dawning  of  scientific  ideas,  and  to  follow  them 
as  they  develoj^ed  into  comprehensive  theories.  Bnt  the  task  is  a 
very  difficult  one,  for  it  is  only  with  great  labor  that  the  historian 
of  Botany  succeeds  in  picking  the  real  thread  of  scientific  thought 
out  of  an  incredible  chaos  of  empirical  material.  It  has  always 
been  the  chief  hindrance  to  a  rapid  advance  in  Botany  that  the 
majority  of  writers  sinaply  collected  facts,  or  if  they  attempted 
to  apply  them  to  theoretical  purposes,  did  so  very  imperfectly.  I 
have  therefore  singled  out  those  men  as  the  true  heroes  of  science, 
of  our  story,  who  not  only  established  new  facts,  but  made  a 
speculative  use  of  empirical  material";  and  he  describes  this 
speculative  process  in  gifted  minds  as  "  an  ever-deepening  insight 
into  the  relationship  of  all  plants  to  one  another;  into  their  outer 
form  and  inner  organization,  and  into  the  physiological  processes 
dependent  on  these  conditions." 

Prof.  Gray's  original  work  proves  him  to  have  been  one  of  these 
true  heroes  of  the  botanical  story.  He  was  a  scientific  theorizer. 
He  coidd  make  a  speculative  use  of  facts.  He  was  a  deep  thinker 
seeking  always  for  the  most  comprehensive  points  of  view.  For 
instance,  Mrs.  Tieat  says  that  his  most  remarkable  contribution 
to  science  was  a  paper  prepared  in  1859  upon  the  "Diagnostic 
characters  of  certain  new  species  of  plants  collected  in  Japan  by 
Charles  Wright;  with  observations  upon  the  relations  of  the 
Japanese  Flora  to  that  of  J^orth  America  and  other  parts  of  the 
northern  temperate  zone."  "This  paper,"  slie  says,  "at  once 
raised  him  to  the  very  highest  rank  among  philosophical  natural- 
ists, and  attracted  to  him  the  attention  of  the  whole  scientific 
world." 

Here,  certainly,  was  very  different  work  from  that  required  in 
making  text-books  and  teaching  college  students.  It  called  into 
action  his  highest  powers.  He  was  dealing  with  the  relationships 
of  widely  separated  patches  of  our  North  American  Flora  and 
the  Flora  of  eastern  Asia,  between  which  he  had  discovered  an 
unaccountable  likeness.  And  then  he  also  found  a  likeness 
between  these  existing  Floras  and  that  of  the  Tertiary  epoch. 
Think  of  the  vast  stores  of  accurate  knowledge  recjuired  to 
establish  these  relationships  !  But  the  man  of  imaginaticm  does 
not  stop  with  the  facts.  The  why  and  the  how  are  ever  pressing 
for  answers,  and  here  comes  in  the  scientific  imagination.  Mrs, 
Treat  says:  "He  explained  the  peculiar  distribution  of  plants 
through  the  Northern  liemisphere  by  tracing  their  descent  through 
geological  periods  from  common  ancestors  that  llourished  in  the 
Tertiary  epoch  in  higli  latitudes."  And  this  was  done  before 
Darwin.  No  wonder  that  men  of  science  abroad  were  impatient 
at  the  sight  of  this  mental  giant  grinding  in  the  class-room  and 
spending  his  pre(;ious  leisure  in  editorial  drudgery  or  the  manu- 
facture of  text-books,  however  perfect. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  the  situation  which  makes  it  seem 
still  more  aggravating.  This  man's  work  had  been  accumulating 
for  a  hundred  years.  Not  only  had  hS  come  to  an  unexplored 
continent,  but  the  i)rinciples  by  which  its  Flora  could  be  naturally 
classed  were  not  established  until  his  time;  and  he  had  an 
im])ortant  hand  in  their  estnlilislmicnt.  From  tlie  time  of 
Linnieus,  thinking  Botanists  had  been  bewildered  and  defeated 


Asa  Gray:    His  Life  and  Work.  355 

"by  the  contradiction  between  tlie  dogma  of  tlie  fixity  of  species 
and  the  aspects  presented  by  the  discovered  facts  of  the  vegetal 
world.  Such  natural  groups  of  plants  as  mosses,  ferns,  Coniferai, 
Umbiliferge,  Compositae,  Labiataj,  Papilionaceaj,  were  recognized. 
These  groups  were  seen  and  felt,  as  we  see  and  feel  the  groups 
of  birds,  reptiles,  etc.,  in  the  animal  world.  Even  Linnteus 
believed  in  a  natural  system  of  classification  founded  on  con- 
stitutional resemblances.  Here  and  there,  while  artificial  classifi- 
cation held  the  field,  a  few  European  botanists  of  deeper  insiglit 
pondered  over  the  natural  relationships  of  plants,  and  by  the 
comparative  study  of  mature  forms  arrived  at  the  science  of 
morphology,  which  was  soon  greatly  advanced  by  the  microscope ; 
and  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  plants  were  also  studied  with 
eit'ect.  A  long  series  of  relationships  among  plants  was  woiked 
out  with  great  clearness,  but  they  were  all  characterized  by  that 
mysterious  word  "  affinity,"  and  here  thought  mostly  ended.  The 
idea  of  the  symmetry  of  plants  was  reached  by  these  deeper 
students;  and  mingling  metaphysics  with  objective  studies,  the 
notion  of  types  in  the  vegetal  world  was  conceived.  By  the  help 
of  theological  conceptions,  the  plan  of  creation,  it  was  thought, 
had  been  discovered  by  Naturalists,  who  readily  took  the  next 
step  of  regarding  tlie  objects  of  Nature  as  the  thoughts  of  the 
Creator — a  view  made  familiar  to  us  thirty  or  forty  years  ago  by 
Prof.  Agassi  z. 

Owing  to  this  state  of  things  philosophical  botany  made  slow 
progress,  and  only  the  most  gifted  minds  could  evolve  correct 
principles  available  in  classification.  Prof.  Torrey  was  a  man  of 
the  required  stamp,  but  he  came  a  little  too  soon.  Prof.  Gray's 
study  of  Japanese  vegetation  brought  him  to  conclusions  concern- 
ing the  fixity  of  species  that  made  him  one  of  Darwin's  most  able 
advisers  in  the  years  preceding  the  issue  of  the  "Origin  of  Species." 
"With  the  Elora  of  a  continent  to  be  studied  in  the  light  of  recent 
discovery  it  seems  doubly  deplorable  that  the  thirty-five  most 
productive  years  of  Prof.  Gray's  life  should  not  have  been  spent 
in  original  research  under  the  most  favorable  conditions. 

Prof.  Gray's  case  is  only  one  of  many  in  which  men  of  great 
powers,  anxiously  seeking  to  use  them  to  the  world's  advantage, 
have  been  compelled  to  spend  their  lives  in  drudgery,  and  to  die 
with  their  great  work  unaccomplished.  The  world  must  continue 
to  suffer  the  loss  of  such  knowledge  as  Asa  Gray  might  have 
added  to  its  stock.  And  the  need  of  some  method  of  discovering 
master-minds,  and  presenting  them  as  candidates  for  support  to 
those  who  are  anxious  to  contribute  to  the  advance  of  knowledge, 
is  forcibly  suggested  by  this  history. 

Dn.  Leavis  G.  Jaxes  :  — 

The  nature  of  Dr.  Gray's  contribution  to  the  doctrine  of  Evolu- 
tion may  perhaps  be  best  understood  by  taking  a  single  example, 
explanatory  of  his  theory  of  the  geographical  distribution  of  plants. 
It  is  found  that  the  nearest  extant  relations  of  the  great  secjuoias, 
or  red-wood  trees, — two  varieties  of  which  are  now  found  in 
California,  and  nowhere  else  in  the  world, —  are  the  southern 
cypress,  found  in  the  swanijis  and  everglades  of  our  Southern 
Atlantic  States,  and  a  similar  tree  of  the   cypress  family,  now 


35G  Ax(t   Gray:    His  L'ifa  and  Worh. 

found  only  in  Northern  China  and  Japan.  A  species  of  yew,  the 
Torreya,  has  also  a  similar  distribution,  the  members  of  its  family 
being  found  only  in  the  red-wood  districts  of  California,  in  the 
swamps  of  Florida,  and  in  Northern  China.  The  old  theory  was 
that  these  trees  were  created,  or  originated  in  the  neighborhood 
of  their  present  habitats,  thus  constituting  several  independent 
stocks.  Dr.  Gi-ay  maintained,  however,  that  these  trees  originated 
from  a  single  stock,  in  Arctic  Latitudes,  when  the  climate  was 
warmer  and  the  continents  were  not  separated  as  now  by  wide 
expanses  of  sea.  By  glacial  action,  or  otherwise,  they  were 
pushed  southward  in  different  localities,  and  tlie  hardiest,  most 
adaptable  stocks  survived  in  the  localities  where  tliey  are  now 
found.  This  theory,  now  generally  accei)ted  by  botanists,  was 
subsequently  confirmed  by  tlie  discovery  of  fossil  red-wood  trees 
in  the  Arctic  regions. 

Dr.  Gray  held  that  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  was  compatible 
with  the  belief  that  Nature  —  the  material  universe — is  the 
outcome  of  mind  rather  than  that  mind  is  the  product  of  material 
conditions.  He  held  that  the  whole  process  of  organic  evolution 
involved  the  idea  of  design,  was  an  adaptation  of  means  to  ends. 
He  did  not  tliink,  however,  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  believer 
in  Christianity  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  attempting  to 
harmonize  evolution  with  the  natural  science  of  Genesis.  "With 
the  rise  and  development  of  astronomy,  physics,  geology,  and 
later  of  biological  science,''  he  said,  "the  tables  were  turned;  and 
now  many  religious  beliefs — or  what  were  taken  for  such  —  are 
controlled  and  modified  by  scientific  beliefs,  none  more  so  than  in 
the  matter  of  '  Biblical  Creation.'  The  result,  I  suppose,  is  that 
no  sensible  person  now  believes  what  the  most  sensible  i)ersons 
believed  formerly.''  On  the  ground  of  natural  science,  he  held, 
"  Scientific^  belief  must  needs  control  the  religious."*  He  thought, 
however,  that  modern  natural  science,  in  any  of  its  demonstrated 
results  t>r  well-established  beliefs,  was  not  necessarily  antagonistic 
to  the  Christian  religiim. 

Dr.  Janes  also  spoke  of  Dr.  Gray's  kindness  of  heart  and 
friendship  for  children,  mentioning  some  instances. 

Mk.  James  A.  Skilton  :  — 

The  essay  of  the  evening  and  its  discussion  by  Miss  Youmans 
have  given  me  the  unique  ex])erience  of  uniting  the  interest  and 
enjoyment  of  this  present  moment  with  the  remend)ered  fascina- 
tions of  a  sort  of  pre-adamite  or  ante-deluvian  age,  speaking  in 
regard  to  the  evolution  of  botanical  science. 

It  was  my  privilege,  before  I  was  half  through  my  teens,  in  an 
interval  of  rest  from  over-study,  and  between  tlie  i)rep;uatory 
school  and  tlie  university,  to  earn  the  degree  of  l^achclor  of 
Natural  Science  in  the  iirst  institution  established  in  the  I 'nitcd 
States  for  the  especial  study  of  Botany  and  the  other  Natural 
Sciences  —  and  thereupon  to  practically  almost  abandon  the 
further  pursuit  of  tliose  sciences;  only  taking  them  up  again  in 
the  most  general  way  as  recjuired  from  time  to  time  while  watching 
the  development  of  the  new  science  and  jjliilosophy  since  the 
publication  of  the  "Origin  of  Species''  in  18")!».  The  bofcmical 
system  taught  in  that  institution   was   that   of  Linnaeus.     So  it 


'Discuf^siun  before  "Evangelical  Alliance,"  Sept.  11,  18J?2. 


Asa  Gray:   His  Life  and  Work.  367 

comes  about  that  I  am  able  to  speak  to  you  from  personal  experi- 
ence and  observations  of  the  state  of  scientific  knowledge  as 
taught  in  the  days  before  the  coming  of  the  flood  of  light  which 
we  are  now  enjoying,  and  also  of  one  of  the  early  teachers  of 
Professor  Gray,  his  life  and  methods. 

In  May,  1810,  at  Catskill,  N.  Y.,  Professor  Amos  Eaton,  a 
graduate  of  Williams  College  of  1799,  made,  it  is  believed,  the 
first  attempt  in  this  country  to  deliver  a  popular  course  of  lectures 
on  botany,  compiling  a  small  elementaiy  treatise  for  the  use  of  his 
class,  in  what  he  called  "The  Botanical  Institution,"  the  first 
botanical  text-book  in  English  published  in  this  country;  those 
previously  used  being  in  the  Latin  language.  In  1817  he  delivered 
lectures  on  botany,  mineralogy  and  geology  to  volunteer  classes  of 
the  students  of  Williams  College,  at  Williamstown,  Mass.  The 
first  edition  of  his  Manual  of  Botany  was  published  by  graduates 
of  Williams  College  in  1817,  and  gave  a  great  impulse  to  the  study 
of  botany  in  New  England  and  New  York.  The  eighth  and  last 
edition  of  this  work  was  published  in  1840,  under  the  title  of 
"  North  American  Botany,"  a  large  octavo  volume  of  625  pages, 
and  containing  descriptions  of  5207  species  of  plants. 

Between  1817  and  18^34,  Professor  Eaton  also  delivered  courses 
of  lectures  on  branches  of  natural  history,  but  particularly  on 
botany,  before  the  Members  of  the  Legislature  at  Albany,  on  the 
special  invitation  of  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  ;  in  the  Lenox 
Academy,  Mass. ;  at  Noi'thampton  under  the  patronage  of  Gov- 
ernor Strong  of  Massachusetts ;  in  the  Medical  College  at  Castleton, 
Vermont,  in  which  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Natural  History 
in  1820;  in  the  City  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  in  many  other  places.. 
His  lectures  in  Albany  resulted  in  the  initiation  of  that  great  work, 
"The  Natural  History  of  New  York,"  the  naturalists  engaged  in 
which  were  largely  his  pupils — among  them  James  Hall  and 
Ebenezer  Emmons.  That  work  has  not  only  been  the  pattern  for 
the  scientific  surveys  of  other  States,  but  men  who  studied  under 
him  have  been  engaged  in  such  surveys  in  many  of  the  States.  In 
1818  he  first  published  his  "Index  to  the  Geology  of  the  Northern 
States,"  which  was  the  first  attempt  at  a  general  arrangement  of 
the  geological  strata  of  North  America.  In  1818-19  the  City  of 
Troy  —  then  little  more  than  a  village,  but  settled  by  the  advance 
guard  of  that  New  England  emigration  which  has  since  covered 
the  Western  States — had  a  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  and  the 
most  extensive  collection  of  American  geological  specimens  to  be 
found  in  this  country.  With  Albany,  it  contained  a  notable 
number  of  leaders  in  science.  Among  them  were  Professor 
Henry,  the  Becks,  and  many  more,  but  in  the  early  days  Professor 
Eaton  Avas  easily  the  leader  in  all  branches. 

In  1824  Professor  Eaton,  by  the  aid  of  the  Pati'oon,  Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer,  of  Albany  —  a  man  of  broad  views  and  public  spirit — 
established  in  the  City  of  Troy  a  School  of  Science  then  called 
the  Rensselaer  School,  whicli  eventually  became  a  school  of  all 
branches  of  engineering,  is  now  known  as  the  Rensselaer  Poly- 
technic Institute,  was  the  model  at  some  remove  of  the  Brooklyn 
Polytechnic  Institute,  and  has  turned  out,  as  its  biographical 
record  shows,  a  larger  number  of  the  successful  working  sci- 
entific men  and  engineers  of  our  day  and  generation  engaged 
in  applying  science  in  the  work  of  the  world  than  any  other 
institution  in  the  country,  possibly  more  than  all  the  literary 


358  Asa  Gray :    Ills  Life  and  Work. 

colleges  put  together;  among  whose  names  are  to  be  found  those 
of  the  men  who  designed  and  built  the  Brooklyn  Bridge,  and  of 
many  others  who  are  now  engaged  in  the  great  engineering  works 
of  the  country.  J^rom  1824  to  May  6,  1842,  the  day  of  his  death, 
Professor  Eaton  was  at  the  head  of  this  institution.  And  between 
1810  and  1841  in  addition  to  other  labors,  lu)  wrote  various  works 
on  botany,  chemistry,  zoology,  geology,  and  kindred  topics,  to  the 
number,  including  the  different  editions,  of  about  forty  publica- 
tions in  all. 

His  biography  has  never  been  more  than  sketched  in  outline, 
but  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  any  single  American  has,  through 
his  work,  his  pupils,  his  methods,  an(f  the  stimulus  he  directly 
gave  to  others,  done  more  for  the  cause  of  science,  and  of  com- 
bined science  and  practice  in  the  United  States,  than  Professor 
Eaton  did.  Neither,  owing  to  circumstances  which  there  is  no  time 
here  to  explain,  has  adequate  justice  been  done  to  the  methods  by 
and  through  which  he  produced  the  marked  eifects  to  be  traced  to 
him,  except  in  the  minds  of  a  few.  Those  methods,  in  a  word, 
consisted  in  bringing  the  student  into  direct  contact  with  the 
actual  thing  to  be  studied,  in  relegating  the  text-book  to  a  secondary 
position,  and  in  bringing  the  minds  and  hands  of  teacher  and 
pupil  into  immediate  co-opei"ative  relations.  He  divided  his 
plasses  into  sections  of  eight,  with  the  most  competent  member  as 
its  captain  or  leader.  The  pupils  assisted  in  preparing  and 
(irranging  the  objects  and  mechanisms  to  be  employed,  whereupon 
the  Professor  lectured  to  the  entire  class;  in  chemistry  performing 
all  the  experiments,  and  in  all  the  other  branches  going  through 
with  all  the  manipulations  and  illustrations  with  the  actual  objects 
in  hand;  whereupon  the  sul)ject  was  taken  up  in  turn  by  each 
section  and  by  every  member  of  each  section,  all  of  them,  with 
the  other  members,  constituting  a  critical  audience,  lecturing 
upon  it  in  turn  and  going  through  all  the  necessary  manipulations, 
experiments,  demonstrations  and  illustrations.  After  the  lecture 
on  botany  the  class  was  usually  dismissed  with  tlie  direction  to 
start  for  the  fields  with  botanical  cans,  and  incited  to  lind  and 
bring  back  the  greatest  possible  number  of  new  plants.  Through 
the  long  list  of  years,  I  still  vividly  recall  tlie  eager  joy  of  that 
work,  and  remember  how,  from  hill-tops  and  otlier  points  of 
vantage,  I  planned  botanical  campaigns,  studied  topography, 
habitat  and  enviionment,  and  thereby  sought  to  discover  the 
hiding-places  of  particular  plants  we  wished  to  capture;  and  how 
we  scoiiumI  fatigue,  obstacles  and  laggards  in  their  pursuit.  The 
students  were  expected  on  their  return,  after  the  first  few  lessons 
had  been  given,  to  lind  for  tlieiiiselves  the  genus  and  species  of  the 
jtlants  tlicy  brought  in.  Where  they  found  themselves  ])uzzled 
and  could  not  ))e  h('l])ed  out  by  their  fellows,  they  were  exjtected 
to  rely  U])on  the  Professor  for  tlie  nunies  of  genus  and  species. 

The  principle  of  the  lixity  of  si)ecies  was  of  course  formally 
taught.  But  the  total  teaching  —  <liat  is,  the  teaching  of  the 
I'rofessors,  the  books,  ond  that  of  tiie  lieids  and  tlie  plants  them- 
selves included  —  resulted,  not  siinjily  in  tlie  relaxing  of  our  belief 
in  it,  nor  sinij)ly  in  tlu;  accei)taiue  of  tlie  coDvenient  Avord 
"variation"  as  ex])ressiv(!  of  tlie  actual  dilTerences  found  in 
S])eciincns  evidently  of  tlici  same  geiiuo.  but  not  answc;ring  to  all 
the  details  of  descrii)tion  given  in  tlie  hooks  for  any  particular 
species.      Although   a  mere   child    1    distinctly  remember   that 


Asa   Gray:    His  Life  and  Work.  359 

notwithstandinj]^  the  reiterated  declarations  of  the  Professors  and 
of  the  text-books,  my  own  mind  would  not  accept  the  doctrine  of 
the  fixity  of  species.  For,  my  experience  was  that  in  attempting 
to  find  the  genus  and  the  species  of  the  plant  in  hand,  the  case 
was  a  rare  and  exceptional  one  where  the  entire  description  of  any 
species  would  everywhere  fit  any  specimen ;  and  I  well  remember 
that  when  compelled  to  resort  to  the  Professor — for  that  reason, 
and  because  I  attempted  to  adhere  to  the  principle  of  the  fixity  of 
species  —  something  like  heat,  if  not  indignation,  would  flash 
through  me  when  the  Professor  gave  me  a  si^ecific  name  over 
which  I  had  long  puzzled  in  vain  and  which  I  had  perhaps  I'ejected 
because  of  the  defective  description.  From  that  time,  the  Summer 
of  1845,  till  the  publication  of  the  "Origin  of  Species,"  I  carried 
a  skeptical  mind  on  the  subject,  and  when  that  book  was  published, 
although  I  could  only  get  access,  in  the  South,  through  bi'ief 
reviews,  through  the  information  contained  in  newspaper  scraps, 
and  —  I  may  say — through  orthodox  sermons  and  their  struggles 
with  the  "monkey  problem,"  to  what  it  contained,  I  pi'omptly 
accepted  the  principle  taught  by  Darwin  in  that  book,  basing 
that  acceptance  largely  upon  the  facts  of  my  long  past  experience, 
and  upon  the  satisfactory  explanation  offered  by  him  of  my  early 
difficulties  in  the  study  of  botany.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  we 
had  Lamarck,  and  the  "Vestiges  of  Creation,"  and  that  discussion 
was  active  and  had  already  undermined  many  old  theories. 

Further,  in  the  home  into  which  I  was  born,  geological  and 
palajontological  specimens  were  everywhere  and  to  a  large  extent 
the  playthings  of  my  childhood.  The  more  recent  tracing  of  the 
history  of  plant-life  from  fossil  forms  down  to  living  forms  by 
Professor  Gray  lias  been  mentioned  in  the  essay  of  the  evening. 
Botany  as  well  as  geology  and  palaeontology  were  constant  topics 
in  that  household  as  far  back  as  I  can  remember;  and  as  early  as 
1845  certainly,  probably  before,  I  distinctly  remember  tracing  the 
genus  Equisetum  back  as  far  as  its  gigantic  fossiliferous  forms 
found  in  the  Coal  Measures.  Perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  to  go  a 
step  further.  By  this  time  of  day  I  suppose  I  am  recognized  in 
this  Association  as  a  thorough  believer  in  Evolution  as  taught  by 
both  Darwin  and  Spencer.  I  first  learned  of  Spencer  by  taking 
up  one  of  his  books  of  essays  in  a  bookstore  in  Albany  in  the 
Winter  of  1862-68,  not  long  after  Professor  Youmans  hadbrought 
about  his  introduction  to  America.  Before  the  first  page  was 
finished  my  mind  was  caught.  As  I  read  on — still  standing — I 
soon  began  to  hear  my  mind  saying:  Here  he  is  at  last  —  the 
thinker,  philosopher  and  leader  for  ichom  I  have  looked  so  long  in 
rain  !  Seeing  other  books  bearing  his  name  on  the  same  table,  I 
rapidly  glanced  through  them,  and  soon  found  the  programme  of 
the  system  of  Philosophy  he  was  to  write  and  the  list  of  what  he 
had  already  written.  Among  these  was  the  title  of  his  essay  on 
Population,  printed  in  a  Westminster  Beview  of  18.52.  Being 
myself  already  an  anti-Malthusian,  I  immediately  concluded  that 
an  examination  of  that  essay  would  establish  his  position  as  a 
thinker,  for  me.  It  was  not  yet  an  hour  since  I  had  picked  up  the 
essays.  Proceeding  directly  to  the  State  Library  I  obtained  the 
copy  of  tlie  Beview,  and  found  my  hopes  and  expectations  con- 
firmed in  the  first  sentence.  From  that  day  I  have  been  an  earnest 
Spencerian.  And  that  I  have  been  so,  I  believe  is  due  primarily  to 
Professor  Eaton,  to  the  Kensselaer  Institute  established  by  him, 


360  Asa  Graij :    His  Life  and  Work. 

to  Professor  George  H.  Cook,  now  of  New  Jersey,  his  successor, 
to  the  Troy  Ijyceum,  to  my  own  father,  who  was  my  constant 
teacher  in  natural  and  bioh)f!;ical  science,  and  to  the  combination 
of  all  these  that  had  been  brought  to  bear  upon  me  as  early  as  tlie 
Summer  of  1845,  if  not  before,  and  certainly  before  the  work  of 
Professor  Gray  had  much  of  it  been  done  or  become  much  known. 

From  these  statements  it  will  appear  that  the  ideas  now 
dominant  in  the  scientific  world,  as  to  the  unfixity  of  species, 
were  in  the  air,  or  coming,  so  to  speak,  long  before  Darwin  or 
Gray  had  either  written,  published  or  reached  their  final  conclu- 
sions. While,  then,  I  would  not  minify  the  magnificent  achieve- 
ments of  such  men  as  Darwin,  Gray,  and  other  modern  lights,  I 
do  not  believe  it  just,  and  for  myself  I  do  not  propose,  to  he 
guilty  of  ignoring  the  laborious  workers  in  natural  science,  in 
this  country,  on  whose  work  recent  builders  have  built  as  upon  a 
foundation.  Now  when  we  are  celebrating  the  praises  of  Professor 
Gray,  I  ask  you  not  to  forget  the  labors  of  such  pioneers  as 
Professor  Amos  Eaton.  Mrs.  Treat  says,  you  will  remember,  that 
after  reading  the  article  in  the  "Edinburgh  Encyclopedia,"  it  was 
Eaton's  Botany  he  first  obtained  and  studied  with  interest,  and 
that  by  its  aid  the  little  Claytonia  Virginica  was  the  first  treasure 
he  captured  and  identified  in  the  early  Spring.  How  many  of  us 
can  understand  and  enter  into  his  earnest  welcome  of  that  cheerful 
flower  ! 

I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  in  an  early  number  the  Popular 
Science  Monthly  will  do  for  Professor  Eaton  what  it  has  done  for 
so  many  other  scientific  men,  in  preserving  their  names  and  labors 
from  threatened  oblivion. 

Doubtless,  if  Professor  Gray  could  have  been  with  us  to-night 
he  would  have  stood  in  my  place  to  say,  much  better  than  I  have 
done  or  can  do,  words  of  cordial  recognition  and  appreciation  on 
behalf  of  his  old  teacher,  Professor  Amos  Eaton. 

Mk.  William  Potts  :  — 

I  desire  merely  to  take  this  occasion  to  emphasize  the  fact,  so 
well  illustrated  by  the  experience  of  Dr.  Gray,  that  the  minute 
and  scientific  study  of  botany  in  no  way  interferes  with  the 
natural  love  of  fiowers  and  plants  for  their  beauty.  On  the 
contrary,  the  more  we  know  about  flowers,  the  more  we  study 
them  scientifically,  the  moie  we  love  them  and  api)reciate  tlieir 
beauty.  The  contrary  idea,  sometimes  expressed  ])y  those  ignorant 
of  the  facts,  is  entirely  false,  and  sliould  be  condemned  by  us. 

Dk.  Eobekt  G.  Eccler  :  — 

Dr.  Ecch's  said  lie  had  first  been  introduced  to  Professor  Gray 
about  ten  years  ago,  by  Professor  E.  L.  Youmans,  in  I).  Appletcm 
&  Co.'s  ofiice.  Ilis  last  meeting  with  him  was  at  McGill  College, 
Montreal,  during  the  meetings  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science.  On  an  excursicm  to  Ottawa  at  the  same 
time  a  favorable  opportunity  was  presented  of  studying  Pntfessor 
Ciray's  disposition  and  learning  from  him  how  he  harmonized  his 
religion  with  evolution.  At  several  points  visited  all  tlie  guests 
were  asked   to  register.     While   men  with   one   title   invariably 


Asa  Gray:    His  Life  and  Work.  361 

affixed  that  to  their  names,  Professor  Gray  with  characteristic 
modesty  signed  his  name  simply  "Asa  Gray,"  although  he  could 
almost  have  filled  the  page  with  the  initials  of  his  honorary  and 
other  degrees  as  well  as  those  of  the  learned  Societies  to  which 
he  belonged. 

When  questioned  in  the  most  elementary  facts  of  botany  by 
l>eople  not  familiar  with  that  science,  he  would  patiently  explain 
the  matter  to  them  with  evident  pleasure.  The  contrast  between 
him  and  a  number  of  other  prominent  members  of  the  Associa- 
tion, who  had  been  seen  by  Dr.  Eccles  snubbing  honest  but  ill- 
posted  inquirers  after  facts,  was  pronounced  and  startling. 
During  the  trip  to  Ottawa  he  disclosed  how  he  reconciled  his 
Presbyterianism  and  Evolution,  the  subject  being  raised  by 
reference  to  a  discussion  on  Darwinism  the  day  preceding  in  the 
Biological  Section.  He  pointed  out  that  in  the  growth  of  a  plant 
or  tree  from  its  seed  to  full  maturity  a  struggle  for  existence 
among  its  cells,  buds,  leaves,  branches,  flowers,  etc.,  is  incessantly 
going  on.  In  spite  of  this  warfare  every  seed  produces  a  tree  or 
herb  after  its  kind.  Like  playing  with  loaded  dice  that  must  turn 
up  the  proper  sides  every  time  in  spite  of  shaking,  in  the 
molecular  warfare  the  winning  party  is  invariably  pre-destined 
in  its  very  structure.  In  the  warfare  among  organisms  and  in 
society  the  same  conditions  are  found.  "Fitness"  may  be 
diabolical,  or  it  may  be  beneficent.  Somehow  in  the  great  average 
it  always  comes  out  beneficent.  Evolution  is  God's  will  made 
manifest  in  matter.  The  side  championed  by  right  and  good 
always  wins  in  the  end. 

Dr.  Gray  was  a  most  voluminovis  writer.  A  list  of  the  titles 
and  headings  of  his  books  and  magazine  contributions  has  been 
published,  and  forms  a  pretty  large  octavo  volume  in  itself. 
Darwin  was  indebted  for  much,  and  perhaps  for  a  majority  of  his 
most  telling  botanical  facts,  to  Dr.  Gray.  A  great  deal  of  the 
material  in  his  "Climbing  Plants,"  was  the  work  of  the  latter. 
The  Compositae  are  the  most  difficult  plants  a  botanist  can  study. 
Here  Gray  was  monarch  and  peerless.  In  his  contributions  to 
plant  distribution  he  showed  himself  at  once  a  master  botanist,  a 
pliilosopher  and  a  naturalist.  Others  had  walked  blindly  over 
the  same  facts  and  fields  and  did  not  see  that  every  flower  told 
the  tale  of  its  own  past  history,  and  the  history  of  its  kind,  by  the 
])lace  where  it  is  found.  Where  plants  of  a  common  or  kindred 
kind  are  now,  tells  of  their  past  wanderings  when  the  facts  are 
all  considered.  Dr.  Gray  made  this  discovery.  To  Gray  Darwin 
first  imparted  his  idea  of  Natural  Selection.  Dr.  Eccles  thought 
it  strange  that  the  essayist  of  the  evening  forgot  to  mention  this, 
the  most  important  fact  in  a  course  of  lectures  on  Evolution  in 
connection  with  his  life.  Especially  important  is  it  because  of  its 
bearings  on  the  history  of  tlie  doctrine  of  Natural  Selection. 
Darwin  and  Wallace  each  claimed  priority  in  advocating  this 
principle,  and  these  rival  claims  were  forever  set  to  rest  by  a 
letter  from  Darwin  to  Gray  that  was  read  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Linnaean  Society  when  the  two  champions  first  gave  forth  their 
ideas  publicly.  This  was  on  July  1st,  1858.  Darwin's  letter  was 
written  a  year  before.  But  even  this  celebrated  epistle  was  not 
the  first.     On  July  20th,  1856,  Darwin  wrote  to  Gray  :  — 


362  Asa  Gra>j :    His  Life  and  Work. 

"I  have  come  to  the  heterodox  conchision  that  there  are  no 
such  things  as  independently  cieated  species,  that  species  are  only 
strongly  defined  varieties.  ...  I  assume  that  species  arise  like 
our  domestic  varieties  with  much  extinction." 

This  is  the  first  word  ever  known  to  have  been  penned  in  this 
world  on  the  now  well-known  principle  of  "survival  of  the 
fittest." 

While  Gray  treated  this  doctrine  fairly  from  the  first,  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  that  he  would  immediately  give  adherence 
thereto.  His  friends,  Agassiz  and  Dana,  bitterly  opposed  it, 
while  he  held  his  mind  in  the  true  scientific  attitude  of  suspended 
judgment.  His  heart  from  the  first  told  him  there  must  be 
something  in  it.  In  1880  he  had  so  far  transcended  his  scruples 
that  at  New  Haven  he  publicly  said  :  "Natural  selection  by  itself 
is  not  a  hypothesis  nor  even  a  theory.  It  is  a  truth,  a  catena  of 
facts  and  direct  inferences  from  facts."  It  is  a  sad  pity  that  he 
did  not  live  to  complete  some  of  the  work  he  had  begun.  The 
"Synoptic  Flora"  lies  incomplete,  to  the  sorrow  of  many  a 
botanist 

At  the  banquet  on  his  seventy-fifth  birthday,  when  the  silver 
vase  was  presented  to  him,  every  botanist  in  America  felt  that, 
like  the  great  Rocky  Mountain  peak  bearing  his  name,  here  was 
one  who  transcended  them  all  in  the  knowledge  of  their  favorite 
Science.     It  was  then  Lowell  wrote  of  him  : 

"Just  fatel  prolong  his  life,  well  spent, 
Whose  indefatigable  hours 
Have  been  as  gaily  innocent 
And  fragrant  as  his  flowers." 


EDWARD  LIVINGSTON  YOUMANS 

THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK 


BY 


JOHX  FISKE 


Author  of  "Cosmic  Philosophy,"  "Excursions  of  an  Evolutionist,' 
"The  Destiny  of  Man,"  etc. 


COLLATERAL    READINGS    SUGGESTED. 

"Biographical  sketch  of  E.  L.  Youmans,"'  in  Popular  Science 
Monthly,  March,  1887;  Article,  "Edward  L.  Youmans,"  in  "Ap- 
ple ton's  Cyclopaedia  of  Biography." 

(364) 


EDWARD    LIVINGSTON    YOUMANS 

THE    MAN    AND    HIS    WORK. 


In  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  shining  pages  of 
his  ''History  of  the  Spanish  Conquest  in  America,"  Sir 
Arthur  Helps  describes  the  way  in  which,  through  "some 
fitness  of  the  season,  whether  in  great  scientific  discoveries 
or  in  the  breaking  into  light  of  some  great  moral  cause,  the 
same  processes  are  going  on  in  many  minds,  and  it  seems 
as  if  they  communicated  with  each  other  invisibly.  We 
may  imagine  that  all  good  powers  aid  the  'new  light,'  and 
brave  and  Avise  thoughts  about  it  float  aloft  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  thought  as  downy  seeds  are  borne  over  the  fruitful 
face  of  the  earth"  (vol.  iii.,  page  113).  The  thinker  who 
elaborates  a  new  system  of  philosophy  deeper  and  more 
comprehensive  than  any  yet  known  to  mankind,  though  he 
may  work  in  solitude,  nevertheless  does  not  work  alone. 
The  very  fact  which  makes  his  great  scheme  of  thought  a 
success  and  not  a  failure  is  the  fact  that  it  puts  into  definite 
and  coherent  shape  the  ideas  which  many  people  are  more 
or  less  vaguely  and  loosely  entertaining,  and  that  it  carries 
to  a  grand  and  triumphant  conclusion  processes  of  reasoning 
in  which  many  persons  have  already  begun  taking  the 
earlier  steps.  This  community  in  mental  trend  between 
the  immortal  discoverer  and  many  of  the  brightest  contem- 
porary minds,  far  from  diminishing  the  originality  of  his 
work,  constitutes  the  feature  of  it  which  makes  it  a  perma- 
nent acquisition  for  mankind,  and  distinguishes  it  from  the 
eccentric  philosophies  which  now  and  then  come  up  to 
startle  the  world  for  a  while,  and  are  })resently  discarded 
and  forgotten.  The  history  of  modern  physics  —  as  in  the 
case  of  the  correlation  of  forces  and  the  undulatory  theory 
of  light — furnishes  us  with  many  instances  of  wise 
thoughts  floating  like  downy  seeds  in  the  atmosphere  until 
the  moment  has  come  for  them  to  take  root.     And  so  it  has 

*  An  Address  before  the  Brooklyn  Ethical  Association,  3Iarcli  23,  1890. 
Reprinted  from  Tho  /'ojnilcir  Science  Montlily,  May,  1890,  by  permission  of 
Messrs.  1>.  Appleton  and  Company. 


366  Edward  Livingston  Youmajis : 

been  Avith  the  greatest  achievement  of  modern  thinking — 
the  doctrine  of  Evohition.  Students  and  investigators  in 
all  de])artments,  alike  in  the  physical  and  in  the  historical 
sciences,  were  fairly  driven  by  the  nature  of  the  phenomena 
before  them  into  some  hypothesis,  more  or  less  vagne,  of 
gradiial  and  orderly  change  or  development.  The  world  was 
ready  and  waiting  for  Herbert  Spencer's  mighty  work  when 
it  came,  and  it  was  for  that  reason  that  it  was  so  quickly  tri- 
umphant over  the  old  order  of  thought.  The  victory  has  been 
so  thorough,  swift,  and  decisive  that  it  will  take  another 
generation  to  narrate  the  story  of  it  so  as  to  do  it  full  justice. 
Meanwhile,  people's  minds  are  apt  to  be  somewhat  dazed  with 
the  rapidity  and  wholesale  character  of  the  change ;  and  noth- 
ing is  more  common  than  to  see  them  adopting  Mr.  Spencer's 
ideas  without  recognizing  them  as  his  or  knowing  whence 
they  got  them.  As  fast  as  Mr.  Spencer  could  set  forth  his 
generalizations  they  were  taken  hold  of  here  and  there  by 
special  workers,  each  in  his  own  department,  and  utilized 
therein.  His  general  system  was  at  once  seized,  assimilated, 
and  set  forth  with  new  illustrations  by  serious  thinkers  who 
were  already  groping  in  the  regions  of  abstruse  thought 
which  the  master's  vision  pierced  so  clearly.  And  thus  the 
doctrine  of  Evolution  has  come  to  be  inseparably  interfused 
with  the  whole  mass  of  thinking  in  our  day  and  generation. 
I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  people  commoidy  entertain 
very  clear  ideas  about  it,  for  clear  ideas  are  not  altogether 
common.  I  suspect  that  a  good  many  people  would  hesitate 
if  asked  to  state  exactly  Avhat  Newton's  law  of  gravitation 
is. 

Among  the  men  in  America  whose  minds,  between  thirty 
and  forty  years  ago,  were  feeling  their  way  toward  some 
such  unified  conce])tion  of  nature  as  Mr.  S})encci'  was  about 
to  set  forth  in  all  its  dazzling  glory  —  among  the  men  who 
were  thus  prepared  to  grasp  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  at 
once  and  expound  it  with  fresh  illustrations  —  the  first  in 
the  field  was  the  man  to  whose  memory  we  have  met  here 
this  evening  to  pay  a  brief  word  of  tribute.  It  is  but  a 
little  while  since  that  noble  face  was  here  with  us  and  the 
tones  of  that  kindly  voice  were  fraught  with  good  cheer  for 
us.  To  most  of  you,  I  ])resume,  the  man  Edward  Living- 
ston Youmans  is  still  a  familiar  ])resence.  There  must  be 
many  here  this  evening  who  listened  to  the  tidings  of  his 
deatii  two  years  ago  with  a  sense  of  jjersonal  bereavement. 
No  one  who  knew  liini  is  likely  ever  to  forget  him.  Kut 
for  those  who  remember  distinctly  the  man  it  may  not  l)e 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  367 

superfluous  to  recount  the  principal  incidents  of  his  life 
and  Avork.  It  is  desirable  that  the  story  should  be  set  forth 
concisely,  so  as  to  be  remembered ;  for  the  work  was  like 
the  man,  unselfish  and  unobtrusive,  and  in  the  hurry  and 
complication  of  modern  life  such  work  is  liable  to  be  lost 
from  sight,  so  that  people  profit  by  it  without  knowing  that 
such  work  was  ever  done.  So  genuinely  modest,  so  utterly 
destitute  of  self-regarding  impulses  was  our  friend,  that  I 
believe  it  would  be  quite  like  him  to  chide  us  for  thus 
drawing  public  attention  to  him,  as  he  would  think,  with 
too  much  emphasis.  But  such  mild  reproof  it  is  right  that 
Ave  should  disregard ;  for  the  memory  of  a  life  so  beautiful 
and  useful  is  a  precious  possession  of  which  mankind  ought 
not  to  be  deprived. 

Edwakd  Livixgstox  Youmaxs  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Coeymans,  Albany  County,  IS".  Y.,  on  the  3d  of  June, 
1821.  From  his  father  and  mother,  both  of  whom  survived 
him,  he  inherited  strong  traits  of  character  as  well  as  an 
immense  fund  of  vital  energy,  such  that  the  failure  of 
health  a  few  j^ears  ago  seemed  (to  me,  at  least)  surprising. 
His  father,  Vincent  Youmans,  was  a  man  of  independent 
character,  strong  convictions,  and  perfect  moral  courage, 
with  a  quick  and  ready  tongue,  in  the  use  of  which  earnest- 
ness and  frankness  perhaps  sometimes  prevailed  over 
prudence.  The  mother,  Catherine  Scofield,  was  notable  for 
balance  of  judgment,  prudence,  and  tact.  The  mother's 
grandfather  was  Irish ;  and,  Avhile  I  very  much  doubt  the 
soundness  of  the  generalizations  we  are  so  prone  to  make 
about  race  characteristics,  I  cannot  but  feel  that  for  the 
impulsive  —  one  had  almost  said  explosive — warmth  of 
sympathy,  the  enchanting  grace  and  vivacity  of  manner,  in 
Edward  Youmans,  this  strain  of  Irish  blood  may  have  been 
to  some  extent  accountable.  Both  father  and  mother 
belonged  to  the  old  Puritan  stock  of  New  England,  and 
the  father's  ancestry  was  doubtless  purely  English.  Nothing 
could  be  more  honorably  or  characteristically  English  than 
the  name.  In  the  old  feudal  society  the  yeoman,  like  the 
franMln,  was  the  small  freeholder,  owning  a  modest  estate 
yet  holding  it  by  no  servile  tenure,  a  man  of  the  common 
people  yet  no  churl,  a  member  of  the  state  who  "knew  his 
rights  and  knowing  dared  maintain."  Few  indeed  were  the 
nooks  and  corners  outside  of  merry  England  where  such 
men  fioiirished  as  the  yeomen  and  franklins  who  founded 
democratic  New  England.  It  has  often  been  remarked  how 
the  most  illustrious  of  Franklins  exemplified  the  typical 


368  Edward  Livingston  Yotivians: 

virtues  of  his  class.  There  was  much  that  was  similar  in 
the  temperament  and  disposition  of  Edward  Youmans  — 
the  sagacity  and  penetration,  the  broad  common  sense,  the 
earnest  purpose  veiled  but  not  hidden  by  the  blithe  humor, 
the  devotion  to  ends  of  wide  practical  value,  the  habit  of 
making  in  the  best  sense  the  most  out  of  life. 

When  Edward  was  Init  six  months  old,  his  parents  moved 
to  Greenfield,  near  Saratoga  Springs.  With  a  comfortable 
house  and  three  acres  of  land,  his  father  kept  a  wagon-shop 
and  smithy.  In  those  days,  while  it  was  hard  work  to 
wring  a  subsistence  out  of  the  soil  or  to  prosper  upon  any 
of  the  vocations  which  rural  life  permitted,  there  was  doubt- 
less more  independence  of  character  and  real  J;hriftiness 
than  in  our  time,  when  cities  and  tariffs  have  so  sapped  the 
strength  of  the  farming  country.  In  the  family  of  Vincent 
Youmans,  though  rigid  economy  was  practised,  books  were 
reckoned  to  a  certain  extent  among  the  necessaries  of  life, 
and  the  house  was  one  in  which  neighbors  were  fond  of 
gathering  to  discuss  questions  of  politics  or  theology,  social 
reform  or  improvements  in  agriculture.  On  all  such 
questions  Vincent  Youmans  was  apt  to  have  ideas  of  his 
own ;  he  talked  with  enthusiasm,  and  was  also  ready  to 
listen ;  and  he  evidently  supplied  an  intellectual  stimulus 
to  the  whole  community.  For  a  boy  of  bright  and  inquis- 
itive mind,  listening  to  such  talk  is  no  mean  source  of 
education.  It  often  goes  much  further  than  the  reading  of 
books.  From  an  early  age  Edward  Youmans  seems  to  have 
appropriated  all  such  means  of  instruction.  He  had  that 
insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge  which  is  one  of  God's  best 
gifts  to  man ;  for  he  who  is  born  with  this  a])petit.e  must 
needs  be  grievously  ill-made  in  other  respects  if  it  does  not 
constrain  him  to  lead  a  ha})py  and  useful  life. 

After  ten  years  at  Greeiifield  the  family  moved  to  a  farm 
at  Milton,  some  two  miles  distant.  Until  his  sixteenth 
year  Edward  helj^ed  his  father  at  farm-work  in  the  Summer 
and  attended  the  district  school  in  Winter.  It  was  his 
good  fortune  for  some  time  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  a 
teacher  who  had  a  genius  for  teaching — a  man  who  in  those 
days  of  rote-learning  did  not  car(>  to  have  things  U^.arned  l)y 
heart,  but  sought  to  stimulate  the  thinking  ])Owers  of  his 
])upils,  and  who  in  tliat  age  of  canes  and  ferules  never 
found  it  necessary  to  use  such  means  of  discipline,  be(5a\ise 
the  fear  of  displeasing  liim  was  of  itself  all-sufficient. 
Exj)erience  of  tlie  nu^thods  of  such  a  nuin  was  enough  to 
shar])en  one's   disgust   for   the   excessive   mechanism,  the 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  369 

rigid  and  stupid  manner  of  teaching,  which  characterize  the 
ordinary  school.  In  after  years  Youmans  used  to  say  that 
"Uncle  Good" — as  this  admirable  pedagogue  was  called — 
first  taiight  him  what  his  mind  was  for.  Through  inter- 
course and  training  of  this  sort  he  learned  to  doubt,  to  test 
the  soundness  of  opinions,  to  make  original  inquiries,  and 
to  find  and  follow  clews. 

But  even  the  best  of  teachers  can  effect  but  little  unless 
he  finds  a  mind  ready  of  itself  to  take  the  initiative.  It  is 
doubtful  if  men  of  eminent  ability  are  ever  made  so  by 
schooling.  The  school  offers  opportunities,  but  in  such 
men  the  tendency  to  the  initiative  is  so  strong  that  if 
opportunities  are  not  offered  they  will  somehow  contrive  to 
create  them.  When  Edward  Youmans  was  about  thirteen 
years  old  he  persuaded  his  father  to  buy  him  a  copy  of 
Comstock's  Natural  Philosophy.  This  book  he  studied  at 
home  by  himself,  and  repeated  many  of  the  experiments 
with  apparatus  of  his  own  contriving.  When  he  made  a 
centrifugal  water-wheel,  and  explained  to  the  men  and  boys 
of  the  neighborhood  the  principle  of  its  revolution  in  a 
direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  stream  which  moved  it,  we 
may  regard  it  as  his  earliest  attempt  at  giving  scientific 
lectures.  It  was  natural  that  one  who  had  become  interested 
in  physics  should  wish  to  study  chemistry.  The  teacher 
(who  was  not  "Uncle  Good")  had  never  so  much  as  laid 
eyes  on  a  text-book  of  chemistry ;  but  Edward  was  not  to 
be  daunted  by  such  trifles.  A.  copy  of  Comstock's  manual 
was  procured,  another  pupil  was  found  willing  to  join  in 
the  study,  and  this  class  of  two  proceeded  to  learn  what 
they  could  from  reading  the  book,  while  the  teacher  asked 
them  the  printed  questions — those  questions  the  mere 
existence  of  which  in  text-books  is  apt  to  show  what  a  low 
view  publishers  take  of  the  average  intelligence  of  teachers ! 
It  was  not  a  very  hopeful  way  of  studying  such  a  subject 
as  chemistry ;  but  doubtless  the  time  was  not  wasted,  and 
the  foundations  for  a  future  knowledge  of  chemistry  were 
laid.  The  experience  of  farm-work  which  accompanied 
these  studies  explains  the  interest  which  in  later  years  Mr. 
Youmans  felt  in  agricultural  chemistry.  He  came  to 
realize  how  crude  and  primitive  are  our  methods  of  making 
the  earth  yield  its  produce,  and  it  was  his  opinion  that, 
when  men  have  once  learned  how  to  conduct  agriculture 
upon  sound  scientific  principles,  farming  will  become  at 
once  the  most  wholesome  and  the  most  attractive  form  of 
human  industry. 


370  Edward  Livingston  Youmans : 

Along  with  the  elementary  studies  in  science  there  Avent 
a  great  deal  of  miscellaneous  reading,  mostly,  it  would 
appear,  of  good  solid  books.  Apparently  there  was  at  that 
time  no  study  of  languages,  ancient  or  modern.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  the  young  man  had  shown  so  much  promise 
that  it  was  decided  he  should  study  law,  and  he  had  already 
entered  upon  a  more  extensive  course  of  preparation  in  an 
academy  in  Saratoga  County  when  the  event  occurred  which 
changed  the  whole  course  of  his  life.  He  had  been  naturally 
gifted  with  keen  and  accurate  vision,  was  a  good  sportsman 
and  an  excellent  shot  Avith  a  rifle,  but  at  about  the  age  of 
thirteen  there  had  come  an  attack  of  ophthalmia  which  left 
the  eyes  weak  and  sensitive.  Perpetual  reading  probably 
increased  the  difficulty  and  hindered  com])lete  recovery.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  violent  inflammation  set  in,  the  sight 
in  one  eye  was  completely  lost,  Avhile  in  the  other  it  grew 
so  dim  as  to  be  of  little  avail.  Sometimes  he  Avould  be  just 
able  to  find  his  way  about  the  streets,  at  other  times  the 
blindness  was  almost  total,  and  this  state  of  things  lasted 
for  nearly  thirteen  years. 

This  dreadful  calamity  seemed  to  make  it  impossible  to 
continue  any  systematic  course  of  study,  and  the  outlook 
for  satisfactory  work  of  any  sort  Avas  extremely  discouraging. 
The  first  necessity  Avas  medical  assistance,  and  in  quest  of 
this  Mr.  Youmans  came  in  the  autumn  of  1839  to  Ncav 
York,  Avhere  for  the  most  part  he  S])ent  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  Until  1851  he  Avas  under  the  care  of  an  occulist. 
Under  such  circumstances,  if  a  man  of  eager  energy  and 
boundless  intellectual  craving  Avere  to  be  overAvhelmed 
Avith  despondency,  Ave  could  not  call  it  strange.  If  he  Avere 
to  become  dependent  upon  friends  for  the  means  of  support, 
it  Avould  be  ungracious  if  not  unjust  to  blame  him.  But 
Edward  Youmans  Avas  not  made  of  the  stuff  that  ac(piiesces 
in  defeat.  He  rose  superior  to  calamity,  he  Avon  the  means 
of  livelihood,  and  in  darkness  entered  upon  the  path  to  an 
envial)le  fame.  At  first  he  had  to  resign  himself  to 
spending  Aveary  Aveeks  over  tasks  that  Avith  sound  eye-sight 
could  have  been  dispatched  in  as  many  days.  He  iuA-ented 
some  kind  of  Avriting-machine  Avhicli  held  his  paper  flrmly 
and  enabled  his  ])en  to  folloAv  straight  lines  at  jjroper 
distances  apart.  Long  practice  of  tliis  sort  gaA'e  his  hand- 
Avriting  a  peculiar  character  Avhich  it  retained  in  later  years. 
"When  I  first  saAv  it  in  18G3  it  seemed  almost  undecipher- 
able; l)ut  that  Avas  far  from  being  the  case,  and,  after  I  had 
grown  used  to  it,  I  found  it  but  little  less  legible  than  the 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  371 

most  beautiful  cliiiogi-aphy.  The  strokes,  gnarled  and 
jagged  as  they  were,  had  a  method  in  their  madness,  and 
every  pithy  sentence  went  straight  as  an  arrow  to  its  mark. 

"While  conquering  these  physical  obstacles  Mr.  Youmans 
began  writing  for  the  press,  and  gradually  entered  into 
relations  with  leading  newspapers  which  became  more  and 
more  important  and  useful  as  years  went  on.  He  became 
acquainted  Avith  Horace, Greeley,  William  Henry  Channiug, 
and  other  gentlemen  who  were  interested  in  social  reforms. 
His  sympathies  were  strongly  enlisted  with  the  little  party 
of  abolitionists,  then  held  in  such  scornful  disfavor  by  all 
other  parties.  He  was  also  interested  in  the  party  of 
temperance,  which,  as  he  and  others  were  afterward  to 
learn,  compounded  for  its  essential  uprightness  of  pvirpose 
by  indulging  in  very  gross  intemperance  of  speech  and 
action.  The  disinterestedness  which  always  characterized 
him  was  illustrated  by  his  writing  many  articles  for  a 
temperance  paper  which  could  not  afford  to  pay  its  contrib- 
utors, although  he  was  struggling  with  such  disadvantages 
in  earning  his  own  livelihood  and  carrying  on  his  scientific 
studies.  Those  were  days  when  leading  reformers  believed 
that  by  some  cunningly  contrived  alteration  of  social 
arrangements  our  human  nature,  Avith  all  its  inheritance 
from  countless  ages  of  brutality,  can  somehow  be  made 
over  all  in  a  moment,  just  as  one  would  go  to  work  with 
masons  and  carpenters  and  revamp  a  house.  There  are 
many  good  j)eople  who  still  labor  under  such  a  delusion. 

Though  ]\rr.  Youmans  was  brought  into  frequent  contact 
with  reformers  of  this  sort,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  his 
mind  was  ever  deeply  im})ressed  with  such  ways  of  thinking. 
Science  is  teaching  us  that  the  method  of  Evolution  is  that 
mill  of  God,  of  which  Ave  have  heard,  Avhich,  Avhile  it 
grinds  Avith  infinite  efficacy,  yet  grinds  Avith  Avearisome 
sloAvness.  It  Avas  Mr.  DarAvin's  discoA^ery  of  natural 
selection  Avhich  first  brought  this  truth  home  to  us  ;  but  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  had  in  1830  shoAvn  hoAV  enormous  effects  are 
Avrought  by  the  cumulative  action  of  slight  and  u.nobtrusive 
causes,  and  this  had  much  to  do  Avith  turning  men's  minds 
toAvard  some  conception  of  Evolution.  It  was  about  1847 
that  Mr.  Youmans  Avas  deeply  interested  in  the  Avork  of 
geologists,  as  Avell  as  in  the  nebular  theory,  to  Avhich  recent 
discoA^eries  Avere  adding  fresh  confirmation.  Some  time 
before  this  he  had  read  that  famous  book,  "Vestiges  of 
Creation,"  and,  although  Prof.  Agassiz  truly  declared  that 
it  was  an  unscientific  book  crammed  Avith  antiquated  and 


372  Edward  Livingston  Youmans : 

exploded  fancies,  I  suspect  that  Mr.  Youmans  felt  that 
amid  all  the  chaff  there  was  a  very  sound  and  sturdy  kernel 
of  tnith. 

Among  the  books  which  jMr.  Youmans  projected  at  this 
time,  the  first  was  a  com])endioTis  history  of  progress  in 
discovery  and  invention  ;  but,  after  he  had  made  extensive 
preparations,  a  book  was  published  so  similar  in  scope  and 
treatment  that  he  abandoned  the  imdertaking.  Another 
work  was  a  treatise  on  arithmetic,  on  a  new  aiul  philosophic 
cal  plan;  but,  when  this  was  api)roacliing  com])letion,  he 
again  found  himself  anticipated,  this  time  by  the  book  of 
Horace  Mann.  This  was  discouraging  enough,  but  a  third 
venture  resulted  in  a  brilliant  success.  We  have  observed 
the  eagerness  with  which,  as  a  school-boy,  Mr,  Youmans 
entered  upon  the  study  of  chemistry.  His  interest  in  this 
science  grew  with  years,  and  he  devoted  himself  to  it  so  far 
as  was  practicable.  For  a  blind  man  to  carry  on  the  study 
of  a  science  which  is  pre-eminently  one  of  observation  and 
experiment  might  seem  hopeless.  It  was  at  any  rate 
absolutely  necessary  to  see  with  the  eyes  of  others  if  not 
with  his  own.  Here  the  assistance  rendered  by  his  sister 
was  invaluable.  During  most  of  this  period  she  served  as 
amanuensis  and  reader  for  him.  But,  more  than  this,  she  ke})t 
\i\)  for  some  time  a  course  of  laboratory  work,  the  results  of 
which  were  minutely  described  to  her  brother  and  discussed 
with  him  in  the  evenings.  The  lectures  of  Dr.  John 
William  Draper  on  chemistry  were  alsc^ thoroughly  discussed 
and  pondered. 

The  conditions  under  which  Mr.  Youmans  worked  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  consider  every  jjoint  with  the 
extreme  deliberation  involved  in  framing  distinct  mental 
images  of  things  and  processes  which  he  could  not  watch 
with  the  eye.  It  was  hard  discii)line,  but  he  doubtless 
profited  from  it.  Nature  had  endowed  him  with  an  unusually 
(tlear  head,  but  this  enforced  method  must  have  made  it 
still  clearer.  One  of  the  most  notable  (pialities  of  his  mind 
was  the  absolute  luminousness  witli  which  he  saw  things 
and  the  r<'lations  among  things.  It  was  this  quality  that 
made  him  so  successful  as  an  ex})Ounder  of  scientific  truths. 
In  the  course  of  his  pondering  over  chemical  facts  which 
he  was  obliged  to  take  at  second  hand,  it  occurred  to  him 
that  most  of  the  jmpils  in  common  schools  who  studied 
chemistry  were  practically  no  better  off.  It  was  easy 
enough  for  schools  to  buy  text-books,  but  difficidt  for  them 
to  provide  laboratories  and  a])paratus ;    and  it  was  much 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  373 

easier  withal  to  find  teachers  who  could  ask  questions  out 
of  a  book  than  those  who  could  use  apparatus  if  provided. 
It  was  customary,  therefore,  to  learn  chemistry  by  rote ;  or, 
in  other  words,  pupils'  heads  were  crammed  with  unintel- 
ligible statements  about  things  with  queer  names  —  such  as 
manganese  or  tellurium — which  they  had  never  seen,  and 
would  not  know  if  they  were  to  see  them.  It  occurred  to 
Mr.  Youmans  that,  if  visible  processes  could  not  be  brought 
before  pupils,  at  any  rate  the  fundamental  conceptions  of 
chemistry  might  be  made  clear  by  means  of  diagrams.  He 
began  devising  diagrams  in  different  colors,  to  illustrate  the 
diversity  in  the  atomic  weights  of  the  principal  elements, 
and  the  composition  of  the  more  familiar  compounds.  At 
length,  by  uniting  his  diagrams,  he  obtained  a  comprehen- 
sive chart  exhibiting  the  outlines  of  the  whole  scheme  of 
chemical  combination  according  to  the  binary  or  dualist 
theory  then  in  vogue.  This  chart,  when  piiblished,  was  a 
great  success.  It  not  only  facilitated  the  acquirement  of 
clear  ideas,  but  it  was  suggestive  of  new  ideas.  It  proved 
very  popular,  and  kept  the  field  until  the  binary  theory  was 
overthrown  by  the  modern  doctrine  of  substitution,  which 
does  not  lend  itself  so  readily  to  graphic  treatment. 

The  success  of  the  chemical  chart  led  to  the  writing  of  a 
text-book  of  chemistry.  This  laborious  work  was  completed 
in  1851,  when  Mr.  Youmans  was  thirty  years  old.  Prof. 
Silliman  was  then  regarded  as  one  of  our  foremost  authori- 
ties in  chemistry,  but  it  was  at  once  remarked  of  the  new 
book  that  it  showed  quite  as  thorough  a  mastery  of  the 
whole  subject  of  chemical  combination  as  Silliman's.  It 
was  a  text-book  of  a  kind  far  less  common  then  than  now. 
There  was  nothing  dry  about  it.  The  subject  Avas  presented 
with  beautifid  clearness,  in  a  most  attractive  style.  There 
was  a  firm  grasp  of  the  philosophical  principles  underlying 
chemical  phenomena,  and  the  meaning  and  functions  of  the 
science  were  set  forth  in  such  a  way  as  to  charm  the  student 
and  make  him  wish  for  more.  The  book  had  an  immediate 
and  signal  success ;  in  after-years  it  was  twice  rewritten  by 
the  author,  to  accommodate  it  to  the  rapid  advances  made 
by  the  science,  and  it  is  still  one  of  our  best  text-books  of 
chemistry.  It  has  had  a  sale  of  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  copies. 

The  publication  of  this  book  at  once  established  its 
author's  repiitation  as  a  scientific  writer,  and  in  another 
way  it  marked  an  era  in  his  life.  The  long,  distressing 
period  of  darkness  now  came  to  an  end.     Sight  was  so  far 


374  Edward  Lloin'jston  Youvians : 

recovered  in  one  eye  that  it  became  possible  to  go  about 
freely,  to  read,  to  recognize  friends,  to  travel,  and  make 
]uuch  of  life.  I  am  told  tliat  his  face  had  acquired  an 
expression  characteristic  of  the  blind,  but  that  expression 
Avas  afterward  completely  lost.  When  I  knew  him  it  would 
never  have  occurred  to  me  that  his  sight  was  imperfect, 
except  perhaps  as  regards  length  of  range. 

Mr.  Youmans's  career  as  a  scientific  lectvirer  now  began. 
His  first  lecture  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  on  the 
relations  of  organic  life  to  the  atmosphere.  It  was 
illustrated  with  chemical  apparatus,  and  was  given  in  a 
private  room  in  New  York  to  an  audience  which  filled  the 
room.  Probably  no  lecturer  ever  faced  his  first  audience 
without  some  trepidation,  and  Mr.  Youmans  had  not  the 
main-stay  and  refuge  afforded  by  a  manuscript,  for  his 
sight  was  never  good  enough  to  make  such  an  aid  available 
for  his  lectures.  At  first  the  right  words  were  slow  in 
finding  their  way  to  those  ready  lips,  and  his  friends  were 
beginning  to  grow  anxious,  when  all  at  once  a  happy 
accident  broke  the  spell.  He  was  remarking  upon  the 
characteristic  instability  of  nitrogen,  and  pointing  to  a  jar 
of  that  gas  on  the  table  before  him,  when  some  fidgety 
movement  of  his  knocked  the  jar  off  the  table.  He 
improved  the  occasion  with  one  of  his  quaint  hons  mots, 
and,  as  there  is  nothing  that  greases  the  wheels  of  life  like 
a  laugh,  the  lecture  went  on  to  a  successful  close. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  busy  career  of  seventeen 
years  of  lecturing,  ending  in  1868 ;  and  I  believe  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  few  tilings  wei'e  done  in  all  those  years  of  more 
vital  and  lasting  benefit  to  the  American  peo})le  than  this 
broadcast  sowing  of  the  seeds  of  scientific  thought  in  the 
lectures  of  Edward  Youmans.  They  came  just  at  the  time 
when  tlie  world  was  ripe  for  the  doctrine  of  Evolution, 
when  all  the  wondrous  significance  of  the  trend  of  scientific 
•discovery  since  Newton's  time  Avas  beginning  to  burst  upon 
men's  minds.  The  work  of  Lyell  in  geology,  followed  at 
length  in  1859  by  the  Darwinian  theory ;  the  doctrine  of 
the  correlation  of  forces  and  the  consequent  unity  of  nature; 
the  extension  and  reformation  of  chemical  theory ;  the 
.simultaneous  advance  made  in  sociological  inquiry,  and  in 
the  conce})tion  of  the  true  aims  and  proper  nieth(xls  of 
education  —  all  this  iuad(i  the  })erio(l  a  most  fruitful  one  for 
the  i)eculiar  work  of  such  a  teacher  as  Youmans.  The 
intellectual  atniospliei'e  was  charged  with  concej)tions  of 
Evolution.     ^Ir.  Youmans  had  arrived  at  such  conceptions 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  375 

in  the  course  of  his  study  of  the  separate  lines  of  scientific 
speculation  which  were  now  about  to  be  summed,  up  and 
organized  by  Herbert  Spencer  into  that  system  of  philos- 
ophy which  marks  the  highest  point  to  which  the  progressive 
intelligence  of  mankind  has  yet  attained.  In  the  held  of 
scientific  generalization  upon  this  great  scale,  Mr.  Youmans 
was  not  an  originator;  but  his  broadly  sympathetic  and 
luminous  mind  moved  on  a  plane  so  near  to  that  of  the 
originators  that  he  seized  at  once  upon  the  grand  scheme  of 
thought  as  it  was  developed,  made  it  his  own,  and  brought 
to  its  interpretation  and  diffusion  such  a  happy  combination 
of  qualities  as  one  seldom  meets  with.  The  ordinary 
popularizer  of  great  and  novel  truths  is  a  man  who  compre- 
hends them  but  partially  and  illustrates  them  in  a  lame  and 
fragmentary  way.  But  it  was  the  peculiarity  of  Mr. 
Youmans  that,  while  on  the  one  hand  he  could  grasp  the 
newest  scientific  thought  so  surely  and  firmly  that  he 
seemed  to  have  entered  into  the  innermost  mind  of  its 
author,  on  the  other  hand  he  could  speak  to  the  general 
public  in  a  convincing  and  stimulating  way  that  had  no 
parallel.  This  was  the  secret  of  his  power,  and  there  can 
be  no  question  that  his  influence  in  educating  the  American 
people  to  receive  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  was  great  and 
wide-spread. 

The  years  when  Mr.  Youmans  was  traveling  and  lecturing 
were  the  years  when  the  old  lyceum  system  of  popular 
lectures  was  still  in  its  vigor.  The  kind  of  life  led  by  the 
energetic  lecturer  in  those  days  was  not  that  of  a  Sybarite, 
as  may  be  seen  from  a  passage  in  one  of  his  letters :  "  I 
lectured  in  Sandusky,  and  had  to  get  up  at  five  o'clock  to 
reach  Elyria;  I  had  had  but  very  little  sleep.  To  get  from 
Elyria  to  Pittsburg  I  must  take  the  five  o'clock  morning 
train,  and  the  hotel  darkey  said  he  would  try  to  awaken  me. 
I  knew  what  that  meant,  and  so  did  not  get  a  single  wink 
of  sleep  that  night.  Kode  all  day  to  Pittsburg,  and  had  to 
lecture  in  the  great  Academy  of  Music  over  foot-lights.  .  .  . 
The  train  that  left  for  Zanesville  departed  at  two  in  the 
morning.  I  had  been  assured  a  hundred  times  (for  I  asked 
everybody  I  met)  that  I  would  get  a  sleeping-car  to  Zanes- 
ville, and,  when  I  was  already  to  start,  I  was  informed  that 
this  morning  there  was  no  sleeping-car.  By  the  time  I 
reached  here  I  was  pretty  completely  used  up." 

Such  a  fatiguing  life,  however,  has  its  compensations.  It 
))rings  the  lecturer  into  friendly  contact  with  the  brightest 
minds  among   his    fellow-countrymen  in  many  and   many 


376  Edward  Liaingston  Yomnans  : 

places,  and  enlarges  his  sphere  of  influence  in  a  way  that  is 
not  easy  to  estimate.  Clearly  an  earnest  lecturer,  of 
commanding  intelligence  and  charming  manner,  with  a 
great  subject  to  teach,  must  have  an  opportunity  for  sowing 
seeds  that  will  presently  ripen  in  a  change  of  opinion  or 
sentiment,  in  an  altered  way  of  looking  at  things  on  the 
part  of  whole  communities.  Xo  le(!turer  has  ever  had  a 
better  opportunity  of  this  sort  than  Edward  Youmans,  and 
none  ever  made  a  better  use  of  his  opportunity.  His  gifts 
as  a  talker  were  of  the  highest  order.  The  commonest  and 
plainest  story,  as  told  by  Edward  Younuins,  had  all  the 
breathless  interest  of  the  most  thrilling  romance.  Abso- 
lutely unconscious  of  himself,  simple,  straightforward,  and 
vehement,  wrapped  up  in  his  subject,  the  very  embodiment 
of  faith  and  enthusiasm,  of  heartiness  and  good  cheer,  it 
w^as  delightful  to  hear  him.  And  when  we  join  with  all 
this  his  unfailing  common  sense,  his  broad  and  kindly  view 
of  men  and  things,  and  the  delicious  humor  that  kept 
flashing  out  in  quaint,  pithy  phrases  such  as  no  other  man 
would  have  thought  of,  and  such  as  are  the  despair  of 
anyone  trying  to  remember  and  quote  them,  we  can  seem  to 
imagine  what  a  power  he  must  have  been  with  his  lectures. 

When  such  a  man  goes  about  for  seventeen  years, 
teaching  scientilic  truths  for  Avhich  the  world  is  ripe,  we 
may  be  sure  that  his  work  is  great,  albeit  we  have  no 
standard  whereby  we  can  exactly  measure  it.  In  hundreds 
of  little  towns  with  queer  names  did  this  strong  personality 
appear  and  make  its  way  and  leave  its  effects  in  tlie  shape 
of  new  thoughts,  new  questions,  and  enlarged  hospitality  of 
mind,  among  the  inhabitants.  The  results  of  all  this  are 
surely  visible  to-day.  In  no  i)art  of  the  English  world  has 
Herbert  Spencer's  ])hilosophy  met  witli  siu-h  a  general  and 
cordial  reception  as  in  the  United  States.  This  may,  no 
doubt,  be  largely  ex])lained  by  a  reference  to  general  causes  ; 
but  as  it  is  almost  always  necessary,  along  with  our  general 
(iauses,  to  take  into  the  accoimt  some  ])ersonal  influence,  so 
it  is  in  tliis  case.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  among  the  agencies 
whicli  (hiring  the  ])ast  iifty  years  have  so  remarkably 
broadened  the  mind  of  the  American  ])eo})le,  very  few  have 
been  more  ])otent  than  the  gentle  and  subths  but  pervasive 
work  done  by  Edward  Youmans  with  his  lectures,  and  to 
this  has  been  largely  due  the  hospitable  reception  of 
Herbert  Spencer's  ideas. 

It  was  in  l<sr)()  that  ]Mr.  Youmans  fell  in  with  a  review 
of  "S])encer's  l*rinci})les  of   Tsychology,"  by  Dr.  Morell,  in 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  377 

The  Medico-Chirurgical  Review.  This  review  impressed 
him  so  deeply  that  he  at  once  sent  to  London  for  a  copy  of 
the  book,  Avhich  had  been  published  in  the  preceding  year. 
It  will  be  observed  that  this  was  four  years  before  the 
Darwinian  theory  was  announced  in  the  first  edition  of  the 
"Origin  of  Species."  Toward  the  end  of  that  book  Mr. 
Darwin  looked  forward  to  a  distant  future  when  the  con- 
ception of  gradual  development  might  be  applied  to  the 
phenomena  of  conscious  intelligence.  He  had  not  then 
learned  of  the  existence  of  such  a  book  as  the  "Principles 
of  Psychology."  In  later  editions  he  was  obliged  to  modify 
his  statement  and  confess  that,  instead  of  looking  so  far 
forward,  he  had  better  have  looked  about  him.  I  have  more 
than  once  heard  Mr.  Darwin  laugh  merrily  over  this,  at  his 
own  expense. 

After  struggling  for  a  while  with  the  weighty  problems 
of  this  book  —  the  most  profound  treatise  upon  mental 
phenomena  that  any  human  mind  has  ever  produced — Mr. 
Youmans  saw  that  the  theory  expounded  in  it  was  a  long 
stride  in  the  direction  of  a  general  theory  of  Evolution. 
His  interest  in  this  subject  received  a  new  and  fresh 
stimulus.  He  read  "  Social  Statics,"  and  began  to  recognize 
Mr.  Spencer's  hand  in  the  anonymous  articles  in  the 
quarterlies  in  which  he  was  then  announcing  and  illustrating 
various  portions  or  segments  of  his  newly  discovered  law 
of  Evolution.  One  evening  in  February,  1860,  as  Mr. 
Youmans  was  calling  at  a  friend's  house  in  Brooklyn,  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Johnson,  of  Salem,  handed  him  the  famous 
prospectus  of  the  great  series  of  philosophical  works  which 
Mr.  Spencer  proposed  to  issue  by  subscription.  Mr.  Johnson 
had  obtained  this  from  Edward  Silsbee,  who  was  one  of  the 
very  first  Americans  to  become  interested  in  Spencer.  The 
very  next  day  Mr.  Youmans  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Spencer, 
offering  his  aid  in  procuring  American  subscriptions  and 
otherwise  aiding  in  every  possible  Avay  the  progress  of  the 
enterprise.  With  this  letter  and  ^Ir.  Spencer's  cordial 
reply  began  the  life-long  friendship  between  the  two  men. 
It  was  in  that  same  month  that  I  first  became  aware  of  Mr. 
Spencer's  existence,  through  a  single  paragraph  quoted  from 
him  by  Mr.  LcAves,  and  in  that  paragraph  there  was  immense 
fascination.  I  had  been  steeping  myself  in  the  literature 
of  modern  philosophy,  starting  with  Bacon  and  Descartes, 
and  was  then  studying  Comte's  "Philosophic  Positive," 
which  interested  me  as  suggesting  that  the  special  doctrines 
of  the  several  sciences  might  be  organized  into  a  general 


378  Edward  Livingston  Yoamans : 

body  of  doctrine  of  universal  significance.  Comte's  work 
was  ciaide  and  often  wildly  absurd,  but  there  was  nuu;h  iu 
it  that  was  very  suggestive.  In  ^Fay,  1860,  in  the  Old 
Corner  Bookstore  in  Boston,  I  fell  upon  a  copy  of  that 
same  prospectus  of  Mr.  Spencer's  works,  and  read  it  with 
exulting  delight,  for  clearly  there  was  to  be  such  an  organ- 
ization of  scientific  doctrine  as  the  Avorld  was  waiting  for. 
It  appeared  that  there  was  some  talk  of  Ticknor  &  Fields 
undertaking  to  condnct  the  series  in  case  subscriptions 
enough  should  be  received.  IVIr.  Spencer  preferred  to  have 
his  works  ai)j)ear  in  Boston ;  but  when  in  the  course  of 
1860  his  book  on  "Education"  was  offered  to  Ticknor  & 
Fields,  they  declined  to  publish  it,  which  was,  of  coiirse,  a 
grave  mistake  from  the  business  point  of  view.  Mr. 
Youmans,  however,  was  not  sorry  for  this,  for  it  gave  him 
the  opportunity  to  place  Mr.  Spencer's  books  Avhere  he 
coidd  do  most  to  forward  their  success. 

Some  years  before,  during  his  blindness,  his  sister  had  led 
him  one  day  into  the  store  of  Messrs.  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
in  quest  of  a  book,  and  Mr.  William  11.  Appleton  had 
become  warmly  interested  in  him.  I  believe  the  firm  now 
look  back  to  this  chance  visit  as  one  of  the  most  aus})icious 
events  in  their  annals.  He  became  by  degrees  a  kind  of 
adviser  as  regarded  matters  of  publication,  and  it  was 
largely  through  his  far-sighted  advice  that  the  Appletons 
entered  upon  the  publication  of  siu;h  books  as  those  of 
Buckle,  Darwin,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Haeckel,  and  others  of 
like  character,  always  i)aying  a  royalty  to  the  authors,  the 
same  as  to  American  authoi-s,  in  spite  of  the  absence  of  an 
international  co])yright  law.  As  publishers  of  books  of 
this  sort  the  A])pletons  have  come  to  be  pre-eminent.  It  is 
obvious  enough  nowadays  that  such  books  are  profitable 
from  a  business  i)oint  of  view.  But  thirty  years  and  more 
ago  this  was  by  no  means  ob^doiis.  AVe  Avere  very  ])rovin- 
cial.  lvei)rints  of  English  books,  translations  from  French 
and  German,  were  sadly  behind  the  times.  In  the  Connect- 
icut town  Avhcre  1  lived  ])e()ple  woidd  begin  to  Avake  up  to 
tlie  existence  of  some  gi'eat  Exiro])ean  book  or  system  of 
thought  after  it  had  been  before  the  Avorld  anywhere  fVoui 
a  dozen  to  fil'tv  years.  In  those  days,  therefore,  it  reqiiired 
some  boldness  to  undertake  the  reprinting  of  new  scientific 
books,  and  none  have  recognized  more  freely  than  tlie 
Appletons  the  iuipoi'tauee  of  the  ])art  ])layed  by  ]Mi'. 
Youmans  in  tliis  matter.  His  woi'k  as  adviser  to  a  great 
jnd)lishing  liouse  and  liis  WDi'k  as  lecturi'r  re-euforced  each 


The  Man  a)id  Ills  Work.  379 

other,    and    thus   his   capacity   for   usefuhiess   Avas   iiuich 
increased. 

When  Mr.  Spencer's  book  on  ''Education"  failed  to  find 
favor  in  Boston,  the  Appletons  took  it,  and  thus  presently 
secured  the  management  of  the  philosophical  series.  This 
brought  Mr.  Youmans  into  permanent  relations  with  Mr. 
Spencer  and  his  work.  In  1861  Mr.  Youmans  was  married, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  following  year  made  a  journey  in 
Europe  with  his  wife.  It  was  now  that  he  became  person- 
ally acquainted  with  Mr.  Spencer,  and  found  him  quite  as 
interesting  and  admirable  as  his  books.  Friendships  were 
also  begun  with  Huxley  and  other  foremost  men  of  science. 
From  more  than  one  of  these  men  I  have  heard  the 
warmest  expressions  of  personal  affection  for  Mr.  Youmans, 
and  of  keen  appreciation  of  the  aid  that  they  have 
obtained  in  innumerable  ways  from  his  intelligent  and 
enthusiastic  sympathy.  But  no  one  else  got  so  large  a 
measure  of  this  support  as  Mr.  Spencer.  As  fast  as  his 
books  were  republished,  Mr.  Youmans  wrote  reviews  of 
them,  and  by  no  means  in  the  usual  perfunctory  way  j  his 
reviews  and  notices  were  turned  out  by  the  score,  and 
scattered  about  in  the  magazines  and  newspapers  where 
they  would  do  the  most  good.  Whenever  he  found  anothe'r 
writer  who  could  be  pressed  into  the  service,  he  would  give 
him  Spencer's  books,  kindle  him  with  a  spark  from  his  own 
magnificent  enthusiasm,  and  set  him  to  writing  for  the 
press.  The  most  indefatigable  vender  of  wares  was  never 
more  ruthlessly  persistent  in  advertising  for  lucre's  sake 
than  Edward  Youmans  in  preaching  in  a  spirit  of  the 
purest  disinterestedness  the  gospel  of  Evolution.  As  long 
as  he  lived,  Mr.  Spencer  had  upon  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
an  alter  ego  ever  on  the  alert  with  vision  like  that  of  a 
hawk  for  the  slightest  chance  to  promote  his  interests  and 
those  of  his  system  of  thought. 

Among  the  allies  thus  enlisted  at  that  early  time  were  Mr. 
George  Eipley  and  Kev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  both  of 
whom  did  good  service,  in  their  different  ways,  in  awakening 
public  interest  in  the  doctrine  of  Evolution.  In  those  days 
of  the  Civil  War  it  was  especially  hard  to  keep  up  the  list 
of  subscribers  in  an  abstruse  philosophical  publication  of 
apparently  interminable  length.  ]V[r.  Youmans  now  and 
then  found  it  needful  to  make  a  journey  in  the  interests  of 
the  work,  and  it  was  on  one  of  tliese  occasions,  in  Novem- 


380  FA  ward  Lio'mfjstoii  Youmaiis : 

ber,  18G3,  that  I  made  liis  acquaintance.  I  had  already 
published,  in  18G1,  an  article  in  one  of  the  quarterly 
reviews  in  which  ]\Ir.  Spencer's  Avork  was  referred  to ;  and 
another  in  1863,  in  which  the  law  of  Evolution  was 
illustrated  in  connection  with  certain  problems  of  the 
science  of  language.  The  articles  were  anonymous,  as  was 
then  the  fashion,  and  Mr.  Youman's  curiosity  was  aroused. 
There  were  so  few  people  then  who  had  any  conception  of 
Avhat  Mr.  Spencer's  Avork  meant,  that  they  could  have  been 
counted  on  one's  fingers.  At  that  time  I  kncAV  of  only 
three  —  the  late  Prof.  Gurney,  of  Harvard;  Mr.  George 
Roberts,  now  an  eminent  patent  lawyer  in  Boston ;  and 
Mr.  John  Clark,  noAv  of  the  Prang  Educational  Company. 
I  have  since  knoAvn  that  there  Avere  at  least  tAvo  or  three 
others  about  Boston,  among  others,  my  learned  friend  the 
Eev.  W.  P.  Alger,  besides  several  in  other  parts  of  the 
country.  When  Ave  sometimes  ventured  to  observe  that 
Mr.  Spencer's  Avork  Avas  as  great  as  KcAvton's,  and  that  his 
theory  of  Evolution  Avas  going  to  remodel  human  thinking 
upon  all  subjects  Avhatever,  people  used  to  stare  at  us  and 
take  us  for  idiots.  Any  one  member  of  such  a  small 
community  Avas  easy  to  find ;  and  I  have  always  dated  a 
ncAV  era  in  my  life  from  the  Sunday  afternoon  Avhen  Mr. 
Yovimans  came  to  my  room  in  Cambridge.  It  Avas  the 
beginning  of  a  friendship  such  as  hardly  comes  but  once  to 
a  man.  At  that  first  meeting  I  kncAV  nothing  of  him 
except  that  he  was  the  author  of  a  text-book  of  chemistry 
which  I  had  found  interesting,  in  spite  of  its  having  been 
crammed  doAvn  my  throat  by  an  old-fashioned  memorizing 
teacher  who,  I  am  convinced,  never  really  kncAV  so  much 
as  the  difference  betAveen  oxygen  and  antimony.  At  first 
it  Avas  a  matter  of  breathless  interest  to  talk  Avith  a  man 
Avho  had  seen  Herbert  Spencer.  But  one  of  the  immediate 
results  of  this  interview  Avas  the  beginning  of  my  own 
(•()rres{)ondence  with  ]Mr,  Si)encer,  Avhich  led  to  manifold 
results.  And  from  that,  time  forth  it  always  seemed  as  if, 
Avhenever  any  of  the  good  or  lovely  things  of  life  came  to 
my  lot,  somehow  or  other  Edward  Youmans  Avas  either  the 
cause  of  it  or  at  any  rate  intimately  concerned  Avith  it. 
The  sphere  of  his  unselfisli  goodness  Avas  so  Avide  and  its 
quality  so  i)otent  that  one  could  not  come  into  near 
relations  Avith  him  Avitlioiit  Ix'eoniing  in  all  manner  of 
unsuspected  Avays  strcngtliened  and  enriched. 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  381 

In  the  autumn  of  1865  we  were  dismayed  by  the 
announcement  that  Mr.  Spencer  would  no  longer  be  able  to 
go  on  issuing  his  works.  In  London  they  were  published 
at  his  own  expense  and  risk,  and  those  books  which  now 
yield  a  handsome  profit  did  not  then  pay  the  cost  of 
making  them.  By  the  summer  of  1865  there  was  a 
balance  of  £1100  against  Mr.  Spencer,  and  his  property 
was  too  small  to  admit  of  his  going  on  and  losing  at  such 
a  rate.  As  soon  as  this  was  known,  John  Stviart  Mill 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  assume  the  entire  pecuniary 
responsibility  of  continuing  the  publication ;  but  this,  Mr. 
Spencer,  while  deeply  affected  by  such  noble  sympathy, 
would  not  hear  of.  He  consented,  however,  with  great 
reluctance,  to  the  attempt  of  Huxley  and  Lubbock,  and 
other  friends,  to  increase  artificially  the  list  of  subscribers 
by  inducing  people  to  take  the  work  just  in  order  to  help 
support  it.  But  after  several  months  the  sudden  death  of 
Mr.  Speocer's  father  added  something  to  his  means  of 
support,  and  he  thereupon  withdrew  his  -consent  to  this 
arrangement,  and  determined  to  go  on  publishing  as  before, 
and  bearing  the  loss. 

But,  as  soon  as  the  first  evil  tidings  reached  America, 
Mr.  Youmans  made  up  his  mind  that  $5500  must  be  forth- 
with raised  by  subscription,  in  order  to  make  good  the  loss 
already  incurred.  It  is  delightful  to  remember  the  vigor 
with  which  he  took  hold  of  this  work.  The  sum  of  $7000 
was  raised  and  invested  in  American  securities  in  Mr. 
Spencer's  name.  If  he  did  not  see  fit  to  accept  these 
securities,  they  would  go  without  an  owner.  The  best 
Waltham  watch  that  could  be  procured  was  presented  to 
Mr.  Spencer  by  his  American  friends ;  a  letter,  worded 
with  rare  delicacy  and  tact,  was  written  by  the  late  Robert 
Minturn;  and  Mr.  Youmans  sailed  for  England  to  convey 
the  letter  and  the  watch  to  Mr.  Spencer.  It  was  a 
charming  scene  on  a  summer  day  in  an  English  garden 
when  the  great  philosopher  was  apprised  of  what  had  been 
done.  It  was  so  skillfully  managed  that  he  could  not 
refuse  the  tribute  Avithout  seeming  churlish.  He  therefore 
accepted  it,  and  applied  it  to  extending  his  researches  in 
descriptive  sociology. 

Of  the  many  visits  which  Mr.  Youmans  made  to  England, 
now  and  then  extending  them  to  the  Continent,  one  of  the 
most  important  was  in  1871,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 


382  Edward  Livingston  Yomaans  : 

the  International  Scientific  Series.  This  was  a  favorite 
sclieme  of  Mr.  Younians.  He  realized  that  popular  scien- 
tific books,  adapted  to  the  general  reader,  are  apt  to  be 
written  by  third-rate  men  who  do  not  well  understand  their 
subject;  they  are  apt  to  be  dry  or  siiperficial  or  both.  No 
one  can  write  so  good  a  popular  book  as  the  master  of  a 
subject,  if  he  only  has  a  fair  gift  of  expressing  himself  and 
keeps  in  mind  the  public  for  which  he  is  writing.  The 
master  knows  what  to  tell  and  Avhat  to  omit,  and  can  thus 
tell  much  in  a  short  compass  and  still  make  it  interesting ; 
moreover,  he  avoids  the  inaccuracies  which  are  sure  to 
occur  in  second-hand  work.  Masters  of  subjects  are  apt, 
however,  to  be  too  much  occupied  with  original  research  to 
write  popular  books.  It  was  Mr.  Youman's  plan  to  induce 
the  leading  men  of  science  in  Europe  and  America  to 
contribute  small  volumes  on  their  special  subjects  to  a 
series  to  be  published  simultaneously  in  several  countries 
and  languages.  Furthermore,  by  special  contract  with 
publishing  houses  of  high  reputation,  the  author  was  to 
receive  the  ordinary  royalty  on  every  copy  of  his  book 
sold  in  every  one  of  the  countries  in  question,  thus  antici- 
pating international  copyright  upon  a  very  wide  scale,  and 
giving  the  author  a  miich  more  adequate  compensation  for 
his  labor.  To  put  this  scheme  into  operation  was  a  task  of 
great  difficulty,  so  many  conflicting  interests  had  to  be 
considered.  Mr,  Youmans  brilliant  success  is  attested  by 
that  noble  series  of  more  than  fifty  volumes,  on  all  sorts  of 
scientific  subjects,  written  by  men  of  real  eminence,  and 
published  in  England,  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Kussia, 
as  well  as  in  the  United  States. 

A  word  is  all  that  can  be  spared  for  other  parts  of  our 
friend's  work,  which  deserve  many  words  and  those  care- 
fully considered.  His  book  on  "Household  Science"  is 
not  the  usual  collection  of  scrappy  comment,  recipe,  and 
apothegm,  but  a  valuable  scientific  treatise  on  heat,  light, 
air,  and  food  in  their  relations  to  every-day  life.  In  liis 
"Correlation  of  Physical  Forces"  he  brings  together  the 
epoch-making  essays  of  the  men  who  have  successively 
established  that  doctrine,  introducing  tliem  with  an  essay 
of  his  own  in  which  its  liistory  and  its  philosophical 
implications  are  set  forth  in  a  masterly  manner.  In  his 
book  on  the  "(hilture  demanded  by  Modern  Life"  we  have 
a   similar  collection    of    essavs    Avith    a   similar   excellent 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  383 

original  discussion,  showing  the  need  for  wider  and  later 
training  in  science,  and  protesting  against  the  excess  of 
time  and  energy  that  is  spent  in  classical  education  where 
it  is  merely  the  following  of  an  old  tradition. 

As  a  crown  to  all  this  useful  work  Mr.  Youmans  estab- 
lished, in  1872,  The  Popular  Science  Monthly,  which  has 
unquestionably  been  of  high  educational  value  to  the 
general  public.  It  was  not  the  aim  of  this  magazine  to 
give  an  account  of  every  theory  expounded,  every  fact 
observed,  every  discovery  made  from  year  to  year,  whether 
significant  or  insignificant.  The  mind  of  the  people  is  not 
educated  by  dumping  a  great,  unshapely  mass  of  facts  into 
it.  It  needs  to  be  stimulated  rather  than  crammed.  Edu- 
cation in  science  should  lead  one  to  tliink  for  one's  self. 
The  scientific  magazine,  therefore,  should  present  articles 
from  all  quarters  that  deal  with  the  essential  conceptions  of 
science  or  discuss  problems  of  real  theoretical  or  practical 
interest,  no  matter  whether  every  particular  asteroid  or  the 
last  new  species  of  barnacle  receives  full  attention  or  not. 
The  Popular  Science  Monthly  has  now  been  with  us 
eighteen  years ;  its  character  has  always  been  of  the 
highest,  and  it  must  have  exerted  an  excellent  influence  not 
only  as  a  diffuser  of  valuable  knowledge,  but  in  training 
its  readers  to  scientific  habits  of  tliought  in  so  far  as  mere 
reading  can  contribute  to  such  a  result. 

In  concluding  our  survey  of  this  useful  and  noble  life, 
what  impresses  us  most,  I  think,  is  the  broad,  democratic 
spirit  and  the  absolute  unselfishness  which  it  reveals  at 
every  moment  and  in  every  act.  To  Edward  Youmans  the 
imperative  need  for  educating  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
so  as  to  use  their  mental  powers  to  the  best  advantage 
came  home  as  a  living,  ever-present  fact.  He  saw  all  that 
it  meant  and  means  in  the  raising  of  mankind  to  a  higher 
level  of  thought  and  action  than  that  upon  which  they  now 
live.  To  this  end  he  consecrated  himself  with  unalloyed 
devotion ;  and  we  who  mourn  his  loss  look  back  upon  his 
noble  career  with  a  sense  of  victory,  knowing  how  the 
good  that  such  a  man  does  lives  after  him  and  can  never 
die. 


384  Edward  Liv'nifjston  Youmans . 


ABSTRACT    OF    THE    DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Daniel  Gkeenleaf  Tuompson  :  — 

It  is  my  purpose  only  to  supplement  the  address  of  the  speaker 
of  the  evening  by  a  few  desultory  remarks,  founded  partly  upon 
personal  acquaintance  and  partly  upon  facts  given  to  me  by 
members  of  Prof.  Youmans'  own  family  and  by  friends.  Prof. 
Youmans  was  a  well-known  figure  in  our  New  York  community, 
a  member  of  leading  clubs,  a  social  factor  and  an  integral  part  of 
the  intellectual  life  of  the  city.  He  was  an  excellent  conversation- 
alist, and  when  he  joined  a  group  he  speedily  made  himself  heard 
and  attracted  attention  by  his  emphatic  manner,  his  incisive 
remarks  and  his  droll,  unique  expressions.  One  was  quite  likely 
to  hear  something  about  Evolution  from  him,  and  if  anybody  was 
rash  enough  to  dwell  upon  the  importance  of  tlie  Classics  in 
education  he  would  be  i)retty  sure  to  draw  in  his  head  like  a 
turtle's  into  its  shell  after  he  had  given  Prof.  Youmans  a  three- 
minutes'  chance.  lie  was  full  of  anecdote,  and  had  a  store  of 
reminiscences  of  his  acquaintance  with  many  eminent  men  of 
England  and  America,  which,  if  they  had  been  preserved,  would 
have  been  of  great  interest  and  value. 

The  qualities  that  made  him  so  good  a  conversationalist  con- 
tributed to  secure  his  success  as  a  lecturer.  He  pleased  his 
audiences,  but  did  not  always  suit  the  fancy  of  the  local  clergy- 
men, who  in  some  jilaces  not  only  assumed  to  represent  the 
Almighty  in  directing  conduct,  but  also  claimed  to  have  delegated 
to  them  His  omniscient  infallibility.  In  one  case  this  earnest 
disciple  of  science  was  brought  into  competition  with  a  series  of 
revival  meetings.  Tliis  was  at  Freeport,  111.,  in  January,  1868.  I 
shall  venture  to  read  his  own  description  of  what  occurred  from 
a  letter  here,  which  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Youmans  i)ermits  me 
to  use  : 

"Tliere  was  a  'Protracted  Meeting'  in  full  blast  in  every 
church  in  town  except  the  Episcopalian,  and  a  general  feeling  of 
])i()us  Christian  rage  at  my  ai)i)earance.  The  Prosl)yterian  clergy- 
man alone,  a  cold-blooded  but  highly  intellectual  man,  who  had 
been  driven  into  the  spiritual  movenu'ut  sheerly  against  his  will, 
hy  pure  comi)etiti()n,  appointed  his  religious  meetings  at  half-past 
six  o'clock,  to  be  out  at  eight,  so  as  to  atteiul  the  lecture.  My 
first  lecture,  therefore,  was  made  to  about  a  hundred  stragglers 
from  prayer-meetings.  I.  of  course,  assumed  the  anti(juity  of  the 
earth  in  that  lecture,  and  that  was  enough.  It  got  abroad  the 
next  day  and  reverberated  tlirough  llie  town  that  I  was  an  oi)en 
and  avowed  infidel.  Tlu're  was  a  deuce  of  a  tinu'.  I  was  calli-d 
upon  by  individuals,  and  oiTensively  catechised  as  to  what  I 
believe(l,  and  questions  were  written  by  clergymen  nnd  sent  in  to 
be  promjitly  answered.  Tlui  next  night  it  was  hardly  a  trifle 
better.  The  gentlemen  who  had  the  thing  in  charge,  seeing  how 
things  were  going,  and  dt'termiiUMl  not  to  be  baflled,  crowded  the 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  385 

house  the  last  two  nights  with  the  pupils  of  the  schools,  let  in 
free  —  a  capital  arrangement,  as  I  would  always  much  rather  talk 
to  them  than  to  old  folks.  I  gave  them  a  piece  of  my  mind  (in  a 
dignified  way),  at  the  close  of  the  last  lecture,  and  it  was  a 
successful  hit.  I  turned  the  tables,  and  showed  that  it  was  those 
who  betrayed  their  skepticism  as  to  the  safe  effects  of  demonstrat- 
ed truth  wlio  were  the  real  infidels — 'infidels,'  unfaithful.  At 
the  close  of  the  lecture  a  certain  Mr.  Mitchell,  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  and  president  of  the  bank,  a  splendid  man, 
the  perfect  image  of  Uncle  Good,  came  up  to  the  platform  and 
collected  the  committee  together.  He  then  said :  '  I  will  myself 
stand  the  expense  of  an  immediate  repetition  of  this  course  free, 
if  Prof.  Youmans  will  stay  and  deliver  it.'  They  lost  $300  on  the 
course.  The  price  was  $400  for  my  series,  but  they  quietly, 
without  explanation,  handed  me  $860  —  $90  apiece  —  which,  of 
course,  I  accepted  without  objection." 

The  fact  that  Prof.  Youmans  was  a  good  lecturer  is  attested  by 
the  circumstance  that  he  could  speak  two  hours  without  wearying 
the  audience.  I  will  read  from  one  more  letter,  which  records  the 
speaker's  own  estimate  that  he  had  reached  the  summit  of  his 
lecturing  career.     He  writes  from  Fairibault: 

"This  is  a  little  place  of  a  thousand  people,  but  they  gave  me 
a  fine  house  last  night,  and  I  in  turn  gave  them  (pardon  me)  a  fine 
lecture,  'The  Rise  and  Influence  of  Modern  Science.'  I  happened 
to  be  in  the  best  of  trim,  and  they  happened  to  have  the  most 
agreeable  place  to  speak  in.  (I  tumbled  off  the  platform  twice, 
and  we  all  had  the  jolliest  kind  of  a  time.)  I  spoke  two  hours, 
and  a  committee  of  gentlemen,  among  whom  was  the  Chief 
Justice  of  this  State  and  the  Attorney-General,  called  on  me  this 
morning  with  enthusiastic  assurances  that  the  audience  would 
have  gladly  staid  two  hours  longer.  It  was  the  best  and  most 
telling  lecture  I  ever  gave  in  my  life  upon  any  subject.  They 
gave  me  $100,  with  a  profusion  of  thanks,  and  urged  me  very  hard 
to  stop  and  lecture  again  on  my  way  back,  which  is  now  impos- 
sible, I  am  all  right  here  for  the  future,  at  $100  a  night  —  the  top 
of  my  lecturing  ambition." 

Prof.  Youmans  was  a  broadly  educated  man.  It  would  be  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  his  advocacy  of  scientific  studies  as 
against  classical  in  the  schools  arose  from  deficiency  in  classical 
education.  On  the  contrary,  his  sister  tells  us,  in  her  biogi-aphical 
sketch  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly,  how  with  him  classical 
studies  preceded  his  scientific  training,  and  inclined  his  mind 
first  toward  language.  After  a  classical  education  he  became 
satisfied  tliat  more  science  was  needed.  Indeed,  it  was  Mr. 
Spencer's  treatise  on  "Edvication"  which  first  influenced  his 
mind  toward  Spencerian  philosophy.  He  had  asked  himself  the 
question  of  that  treatise,  "What  knowledge  is  of  most  worth  ?" 
And  there  he  found  his  answer;  in  that  answer  he  constructed 
his  own  work  as  an  educator — knowledge,  scientific  knowledge, 
first  in  all  things. 

But  though  first  a  scientist.  Prof.  Youmans  was  not  forgetful 
of  other  branches  of  literature  tlian  the  scientific.  He  was  fond 
of  poetry.      He  was   not   a  novel-reader,   nor   did   he   esi^ecially 


386  Edward  Liviiifjston  Youmans: 

enjoy  pulpit  sermons.  Anything  making  for  practical  value  was 
precious  in  his  eyes;  the  useless  he  endeavored  to  eliminate. 
I'rof.  Youmans  was  too  much  of  an  enthusiast  to  become  a 
very  systematic  worker.  He  was  irregular  in  his  labors,  working 
all  night  if  need  be,  not  thinking  of  economy  of  resources. 
He  was  not  careful  to  take  sufficient  exercise,  being  rather 
indolent  as  regards  ])hysical  exertion.  Yet  he  sometimes  chopped 
wood,  like  Mr.  Gladstone;  but  if  anybody  had  asked  him  to 
saw  it  I  think  he  would  have  .said,  '"Go  to!"  He  liked  good 
living,  but  was  not  a  drinking-man,  save  that  he  was  very 
intemperate  with  ice-water.  He  commended  himself  to  his 
wife  when  he  married  her,  at  his  age  of  forty,  by  the  fact  that  he 
never  used  tobacco;  but  he  fell  from  this  grace  afterward,  and 
became  a  smoker;  I  suppose  at  first  only  when  away  from  her, 
because  in  his  absence  from  her  society  lie  felt  the  evil  which  he 
had  not  known  before,  and  endeavored  to  soothe  his  mind  as  best 
he  could. 

Not  to  weary  you  further,  if  I  were  to  characterize  Prof.  You- 
mans' work  it  would  be  to  emphasize  his  service  as  an  educator. 
This  was  the  purpose  of  his  lecturing,  his  works,  his  establish- 
ment of  The  Popular  Science  Monthhj.  He  wanted  first  to  know 
the  truth,  and  then,  he  believed,  if  the  truth  could  only  be  applied 
it  would  make  men  free.  So  he  sought  to  popularize  knowledge 
and  make  it  assimilable  to  men's  minds.  In  this  I  think  he 
achieved  a  very  marked  success,  and  made  a  very  decided  impres- 
sion upon  American  intellectual  life.  His  own  books  had  this 
effect,  and  the  establishment  and  continuance  of  The  Popular 
Science  Monthly  have  contributed  powerfully  to  the  same  result. 
The  work  of  him  who  seizes  upon,  utilizes,  adapts  and  extends 
the  discovery  is  scarcely,  if  at  all,  less  important  than  that  of  the 
original  discoverer.  If  it  be  an  object  to  give  a  force  and  efficiency 
to  truth  that  shall  insure  its  permanent  hold  upon  the  human 
mind,  then  honor  is  due  to  him  who  makes  it  forceful.  However 
far  scientific  pi-ogress  has  gone  in  America,  to  wliatever  extent 
empirical  ignorance  has  been  superseded,  in  whatever  degree 
superstitions  have  lost  their  force  —  the  life-labors  of  Prof.  You- 
mans must  be  counted  as  a  potent  factor  in  the  change.  He  saw 
his  mission  and  he  fulfilled  it  well.  He  never  despised  art,  but  he 
l)elieved  in  science  as  of  first  importance,  and  whether  science 
or  art  be  considered,  he  insisted  on  its  practical  interests.  He 
believed  that 

Not  to  know  at  large  of  things  remote 

From  us,  obscure  and  subtle,  but  to  know 

That  which  before  us  lies  in  daily  life, 

Is  the  i)rinie  wisdom;  wliat  is  more  is  fume, 

An  I'inptiiiess  or  loud  impertinence, 

And  renders  us  in  tilings  that  most  concern 

Uni)ractised,  unprepared  and  still  to  seek. 

PliOFESSOll   FitANKI.IX  AV.   lIooi'Ki::  — 

I  rise  to  acknowledge  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  I  pej'sonally 
owe  to  the  late  Prof.  Youmans.  More  tliaii  twenty  years  ago, 
wlieii  occupying  tlie  position  of  janitor  in  a  Wes^eiii  College  —  a 
l)osition  wliich  gave  me  access  to  tlie  College  Library  —  1  came 
across  a  book  tlie  reading  of  whicli  marked  an  era  in  my  life.  The 
title  of  the  book  was.  "Tlie  Culture  Demanded  by  Modern  Life," 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  387 

and  its  author  or  collaborator  was  Mr.  Youmans.  I  read  it  eagerly, 
especially  the  chapter  which  was  written  by  Mr.  Youmans,  and  it 
strongly  influenced  my  mind  in  the  direction  of  scientific  studies. 
Either  on  the  advertising  pages  of  the  book,  or  elsewhere,  about 
the  same  time,  I  saw  a  notice  of  Herbert  Spencer's  book  on 
"Education" — a  book  which  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  has 
influenced,  more  tlian  any  other  of  the  present  century,  the 
character  of  our  educational  methods. 

In  subsequent  years,  after  I  came  to  Brooklyn,  I  frequently  had 
occasion  to  meet  Prof.  Youmans,  and  consult  with  him  about  the 
text^books  in  use  in  our  colleges  and  schools.  The  impression 
produced  by  personal  acquaintance  strengthened  the  judgment 
►  which  I  had,  formed  from  reading  his  books.  His  influence  more 
than  any  other  aroused  in  my  mind  broad  ideas  of  the  Universe, 
and  started  me  out  as  an  evolutionist. 

The  leading  characteristic  in  Prof.  Youmans'  character,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  was  his  hatred  of  pretense  and  shams.  I  remember 
calling  on  him  once  to  consult  him  in  regard  to  the  compilation  of 
a  text-book  on  zoology.  He  indignantly,  and  in  the  sti'ongest 
language,  denounced  the  books  then  in  use  in  the  schools,  declar- 
ing that  it  was  impossible  for  children  to  be  properly  educated  by 
the  use  of  such  defective  tools. 

Prof.  Youmans,  in  some  of  the  characteristics  of  his  mind  and 
character,  strongly  resembled  the  late  Horace  Greeley.  Botli  of 
these  men  possessed  admirable  virtues,  but  both  also  had  some 
noticeable  defects.  The  defect  in  Prof.  Youmans'  character,  as  it 
appears  to  me,  was  that  his  mind  was  not  broad  enough  to  include 
religion  in  his  philosophy.  He  was  a  materialist  and  an  agnostic; 
whereas,  in  my  judgment,  the  study  of  science  and  of  Evolution 
should  emphasize  the  fact  that  all  Nature,  the  Universe  itself,  and 
the  mind  of  man,  are  but  shadows  and  symbols  of  an  immanent 
and  self-revealing  God. 

Mk.  Gaerett  p.  Sekviss:  — 

I  also  desire  to  recognize  my  great  indebtedness  to  Prof.  You- 
mans for  his  books  and  his  popular  lectures  on  scientific  subjects, 
Avhich  awakened  in  my  mind  an  interest  in  the  physical  sciences 
that  has  never  since  weakened  or  grown  dim.  The  most  striking 
characteristic  of  his  character,  as  it  seems  to  me,  was  his  wonder- 
ful faculty  for  simplifying  the  abstruse  problems  of  scientific 
research,  making  them  clear  and  plain  to  the  most  uninstructed 
mind,  and  by  the  charm  of  his  manner  awakening  the  interest  and 
arousing  the  enthusiasm  of  his  auditors  and  readers.  I  cannot 
believe  that  this  faculty  of  popularizing  science  is  in  truth  so  rare 
as  it  appears  to  be  —  though  we  must  admit  that  few  eminent 
scientific  investigators  have  possessed  it  in  any  great  degree.  In 
tliat  direction  must  lie  our  progress  in  the  future;  for  in  order 
tliat  the  beneficent  influence  of  science  may  extend  its  sway  over 
all  the  earth,  the  people  must  be  instructed. 

Mr.  George  Iles:  — 

While  Prof.  Youmans'  natural  powers  of  expression  were 
remarkable  even  in  youth,  he  took  pains  to  improve  them  by 
unremitting  cultivation.  He  well  knew  how  much  the  effective- 
ness of  a  thought  depends  upon  clear  and  telling  statement,  and 
he  drilled  himself  carefullv  in  the  art  of  makinu'  difticult  things 


388  Edward  Livingston  Yonmans : 

l)lain.  His  task  of  course  began  in  reaching  thoroughly  clear 
views  as  to  the  tliemes  of  his  study.  For  this  complete  grasp  of 
ideas,  and  facility  in  communicating  them,  he  was  indebted  in 
no  small  measure  to  the  circumstances  of  his  early  years  in  New 
York.  Unfortunate  as  those  years  were  in  many  ways  they  were 
not  without  their  compensations.  When  he  left  the  eye-inlirmary, 
in  his  nineteenth  year,  he  went  to  board  at  a  Mrs.  Cook's,  who.se 
house  was  at  the  corner  of  I'earl  and  Hague  streets.  Most  of  his 
fellow-boarders  were  printers,  and  their  friendship  was  soon 
enlisted  by  his  intelligence  and  vivacity.  As  opportunity  offered 
they  would  read  to  him,  and  as  his  choice  lay  among  books  of 
science  he  had  abundant  food  for  reflection  when  left  by  himself. 
Throughout  life  it  was  his  habit  aiid  pleasure  to  talk  over  with 
his  friends  whatever  interested  him,  so  that  in  those  early  days 
he  spent  a  good  many  hours  explaining  to  the  young  printers 
about  him  something  of  the  facts  and  principles  he  had  been 
digesting;  thus  all  unconsciously  receiving  a  capital  training  for 
his  future  work  as  a  scientific  expositor.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that,  to  a  man  of  his  impulsive  temperament,  blindness  and 
solitude  compelled  a  depth  of  reflection  which  happier  circum- 
stances would  have  denied.  And  in  teaching  lessons  so  painfully 
learned  to  others  much  less  informed  than  himself  he  took  his 
lirst  steps  in  the  mastery  of  an  art  in  which  he  afterward  excelled, 
—  the  difficult  art  of  interesting  every-day  people  in  science  and 
making  its  truths  simple  and  clear.  As  a  writer  he  was  his  own 
severest  critic  in  this  regard.  Articles  widely  quoted  for  their 
apparent  spontaneity,  articles  which  might  seize  the  pith  of  a 
controversy,  or  wittily  prick  some  bubble  of  fallacy,  were  the 
products  of  hard  labor.  He  often  re-wrote  parts  of  a  manuscript 
a  dozen  times,  and  only  surrendered  it  to  the  printer  when  the 
printer  would  wait  no  longer.  His  introduction  to  "The  Culture 
Demanded  by  Modern  Life,"  perhaps  his  best  piece  of  writing, 
was  pruned,  revised  and  recast  so  much  that  at  last  scarcely  a 
sentence  of  the  original  draft  remained.  When  he  became  editor, 
the  art  he  had  so  faithfully  practised  he  commended  to  others. 
Here  is  a  specimen  letter  to  a  young  contributor  :  — 

"New  Yokk,  May  Hrh,  ISTd. 
'■'■My  Dear  Sir  : 

"  Your  article  appears  in  the  June  number.  As  I  stated  to  you 
at  first,  it  is  excellent,  and  will  be  read  by  many  with  appreciation. 
But  when  I  looked  over  tiie  j)r()of  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  had 
some  faults  of  ])resentation,  i)erhai)s  due  to  your  lack  of  practice 
in  putting  abstract  things  to  coiuTnon  readers.  Our  scientilic 
readers,  of  course,  will  have  no  trouble  in  understanding  you,  and 
will  enjoy  your  argiunent,  but  eight-tenths  of  the  patrons  of  the 
Monthli/  "wiU  get  but  a  i)artial  comprehension  of  it.  Of  course  so 
abstract  a  topic  as  "The  Mathematics  of  Evolution"  may  bt^ 
expected  to  recjuire  .some  intellectual  force  to  grasp  it,  and  I  am 
well  content  with  your  main  exposition.  Still,  I  think  sonu' 
serious  and  systematic  attention  on  your  ])art  to  the  art  and 
artilice  of  clear  and  familiar  statement,  which  will  give  you 
access  to  ordinary  minds,  is  very  imjxirtant.  I  do  not  mean  for  a 
moment  that  your  writing  is  obscure,  but  only  that  your  composi- 
tion would  be  improved  if  you  had  in  yoiu'  mind's  eye  a  j)erson  of 


The  Man  and  His  Work.  389 

common  intelligence  and  quite  imacquainted  with  the  subject  you 
sought  to  explain.  You  would  then  stop  and  think  by  what 
handling  or  illustration  the  view,  so  clear  to  you,  could  be  brought 
into  his  apprehension.  I  am  speaking  from  the  Popular  Science 
standpoint  about  a  deficiency  which  mai-ks  many  of  our  scientific 
writers;  generally,  the  deeper  and  more  thoi'ough  their  science 
the  poorer  is  their  power  of  exposition.  Excuse  me  for  throwing  out 
these  suggestions,  but  with  your  unusual  ability  of  statement  and 
command  of  appropriate  language,  if  you  could  study  the  art  of 
getting  at  the  mind  of  the  multitude,  as  a  dramatist  has  to  study 
it  in  elaborating  his  points  with  reference  to  their  effect  upon 
theatre-goers,  you  could  do  very  important  and  increasingly 
needed  work  in  the  field  of  popular  and  scientific  education.  .  .  . 

Ever  and  truly  yours,  E.  L.  Youmans. 

'■'■Mr.  George  lies,  Montreal.''^ 

Dr.  D.  H.  Cochran  :  — 

Dr.  Cochran,  President  of  the  Brooklyn  Polytechnic  Institute, 
wrote  as  follows,  in  response  to  an  invitation  to  speak  : 

"E.  L.  Youmans  was  my  very  dear  friend.  There  are  very  few 
men  whom  I  more  respected  and  loved,  and  I  exceedingly  regret 
that  I  am  unable  to  hear  Mr.  Fiske's  paper  and  the  tributes  that 
will  be  paid  to  his  memory  and  worth." 

Kev.  John  W.  Chadwick:  — 

I  will  not  go  into  the  pulpit,  for  I  think  it  must  enjoy  the 
fumigation  which  it  has  received  this  evening  at  the  hands  of 
laymen.  I  knew  Prof.  Youmans  rather  as  a  free-trader  than  as 
an  evolutionist — probably  because  I  usually  met  him  at  the  house 
of  our  friend  Richard  Henry  Manning,  who  was  a  good  evolution- 
ist but  was  very  far  gone  as  a  protectionist,  and  needed  light 
particularly  on  that  subject.  It  was  a  characteristic  of  Mr. 
Youmans  to  give  light  where  it  was  needed,  and  therefore  he 
talked  free-trade  to  Mr.  Manning. 

I  am  very  glad  that  it  has  been  our  good  fortune  to  have  Mr. 
Fiske  in  this  place,  to  deliver  this  lecture  on  Prof.  Youmans. 
And  I  wish  to  express  my  own  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Fiske  —  who 
in  his  "Cosmic  Philosophy"  has  made  what  is  to  my  mind  a 
clearer  statement  of  the  principles  of  Mr.  Spencer's  philosophy 
than  Mr.  Spencer  has  made  in  his  own  books.  All  who  have  any 
acquaintance  with  my  sermons  know  that  I  have  made  great  use 
of  Mr.  Fiske's  works,  by  way  of  illustration  and  otherwise,  for 
many  years  past.  There  are  few  writers  whose  thought  has  been 
so  fruitful  to  my  mind. 

Mr.  Fiske:  — 

I  am  greatly  moved  by  the  words  of  Mr.  Chadwick,  and  glad  to 
know  that  my  work  has  proved  suggestive  to  his  own  thought. 

I  notice  but  one  point  in  the  remarks  made  here  this  evening 
that  appears  to  require  correction.  I  cannot  think  that  the  term 
"materialist"  can  properly  be  applied  to  Mr.  Youmans.  It  is 
true  that  neither  he  nor  Mr.  Spencer  have  formulated  a  distinct 
set  of  views  on  theology.     They  were  both  kept  so  busy  in  estab- 


390  Edward  Livingston  Yournans. 

lishing  the  principles  of  Evolution,  in  their  general  scientific  and 
philosophical  bearings,  that  tliey  had  no  time  to  apply  theui  to 
theology;  that  is  a  task  for  the  next  generation  —  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  in  due  time  it  will  be  successfully  accomplished. 

Mk.  Hekbekt  Spencer:  — 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Spencer  was  received  too  late  to 
be  read  at  this  meeting,  but  was  read  at  a  subsequent  meeting. 

64  Avenue  Koad,  Regent's  Park, 

London,  N.  W.,  March  13,  1890. 
Bear  Mr.  Skilton :  — 

I  received  your  telegram  last  night,  and  from  the  wording 
conclude  that  you  wish  some  letter  from  me  about  Yournans 
which  Fiske  may  read  in  his  lecture  on  the  23d.  I  am  very  glad 
to  respond  to  the  request,  and  I  cannot  do  this  better  than  by 
giving  you  the  following  copy  of  a  passage  in  my  Autobiogi'aphy 
concerning  him: 

"The  relation  thus  initiated  was  extremely  fortunate;  for 
Prof.  Edward  L.  Youmans  was,  of  all  Americans  I  have  known 
or  heard  of,  the  one  most  able  and  most  willing  to  help  me.  Alike 
intellectually  and  morally,  he  had  in  the  highest  degrees  the 
traits  conducive  to  success  in  diffusing  the  doctrines  he  espoused; 
and  from  that  time  to  this  he  has  devoted  his  life  mainly  to 
spreading  throughout  the  United  States  the  doctrine  of  Evolution. 
His  love  of  wide  generalizations  had  been  shown  years  before  in 
lectures  on  such  toi)ics  as  tlie  correlation  of  the  physical  forces; 
and  from  tliose  who  heard  him  I  have  gathered  that,  aided  by  his 
unusual  powers  of  exposition,  the  enthusiasm  wliich  contempla- 
tion of  the  larger  truths  of  science  produced  in  him,  was  in  a 
remarkable  degree  communicated  to  his  hearers.  Such  larger 
truths  I  have  on  many  occasions  observed  are  those  which  he 
quickly  seizes  —  ever  i)assing  at  once  through  details  to  lay  hold  of 
essentials;  and,  having  laid  hold  of  them,  he  clearly  sets  them 
forth  afresh  in  his  own  way  with  added  illustrations.  But  it  is 
morally  even  more  than  intellectually  that  he  has  proved  himself 
a  true  missionary  of  advanced  ideas.  Extremely  energetic  —  so 
onergetic  that  no  one  has  been  able  to  check  his  over-activity  — 
lie  has  expended  all  his  jxjwers  in  advancing  what  he  holds  to  be 
the  truth;  ;ind  not  only  his  powers  but  his  means.  It  has  proved 
impossil)l(!  to  ])revent  him  from  injuring  himself  in  health  by  his 
<'xertioiis;  and  it  has  proved  imi)ossible  to  make  him  pay  due 
ic'gard  to  his  jx'rsonal  interests.  So  tliat  towards  the  close  of  life 
he  linds  himself  wre(;ked  in  body  and  imi)ov('rished  in  estate  by 
tiiirty  years  of  devotion  to  liitjli  ends.  Among  professed  wor- 
shipers of  Ininianity,  who  teacli  that  human  welfare  should  be 
the  dominant  aim,  1  liave  not  yet  heard  of  one  whose  sacrifices 
on  l)ehalf  of  humanity  will  bear  coni])arison  with  those  of  my 
friend." 

Though  the  volume  containing  tliis  ])assage  will  not  be  ]>ub- 
lished  until  after  my  deatli,  I  am  very  willing  that  this  tribute  of 
jidmiration  to  my  late  friend  should  be  made  public  now. 

1  am,  faithfully  youis,  IIkhbekt  Si'Knceij. 


INDEX 


Sociology.  393 


INDEX. 

Abbeville,  discoveries  at,  46. 

Abbot,  Dr.  Francis  Ellingwood,  on  agnosticism,  8 ;  on  Christianity,  260 

Abolitionists,  the,  269-270,  315,  371. 

Abuse  of  legislative  functions,  327,  331-332. 

Adams,  Professor,  on  Rousseau's  theory  of  government,  99-100. 

Adler,  Professor  Felix,  his  ethical  religion,  272. 

Adoption,  118-119. 

Agassiz,  Professor  Louis,  his  theory  of  creation,  355;  opposed  to  that  of  Pro- 
fessor Grav,  362;  on  Vestiges  of"  Creation,  371. 

Agnosticism,  9-16,  29-42. 

Alger,  Rev.  William  R.,  his  early  interest  in  evolution,  380. 

Alms-giving,  270-271. 

Altruism,  dependent  on  social  differentiation,  226 ;  dangers  of  excessive,  327-328. 

America,  primitive  man  in,  63-64. 

American  evolutionists,  criticized  by  A.  R.  Wallace,  4. 

American  slavery,  269,  270. 

Amiens,  222. 

Amceha,  195. 

Anarchism,  its  theory  of  government,  105 ;  opposed  to  the  wages  system,  218 ; 
partial  wisdom  of  its  tlieory,  274;  its  method  defined,  278-279;  its  scientific 
aspect,  303 ;  Hugh  O.  Pentecost  on,  303-318 ;  distinguished  from  individual- 
ism, 304;  its  methods  peaceful,  304-305;  opposed  to  monopolism,  307-309; 
its  economic  principles,  308 ;  opposed  to  land-ownership,  308-309 ;  opposed 
to  interest-taking,  309-310;  opposed  to  profit-taking,  310-311;  opposed  to 
government  by  physical  force,  312-313 ;  opposed  to  voting,  313-314 ;  in  favor 
of  free-trade,  314 ;  opposed  to  state-socialism,  317;  its  relation  to  evolution, 
318;  as  related  to  the  scientific  metliod,  327. 

Ancestor-worship,  among  pre-historic  races,  64,  65;  as  related  to  the  evolution 
of  law,  118. 

Ancient  City,  the,  257. 

Andrea  Ferrara,  173. 

Andrews,  Stephen  Pearl,  his  Science  of  Society,  310. 

Antiquity  of  man,  46,  65. 

Antoninus,  Marcus  Aurelius,  on  human  brotherhood,  99. 

Ape,  anthropoid,  man's  relation  to,  58. 

Appleton,  n.  &  Company,  378,  379. 

Arboreal  life  of  man's  ancestors,  199. 

Aristotle,  on  government  by  the  governed,  99 ;  science  began  in  his  age,  236 ;  on 
labor  and  slavery,  258 ;  on  money,  268 ;  his  exact  method,  323. 

Arms  and  armor,  evolution  of,  159-187. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  his  definition  of  morality,  18. 

Arrival  of  man  in  Europe,  54. 

Artificial  exercise,  why  necessary,  194. 

Art-spirit,  its  relation  to  social  progress,  335-336. 

Aryans,  their  emigration  to  Europe,  61 ;  marriage  customs  among,  69,  83. 

Australian  marriage  customs,  72,  76-77. 

Bacox,  Lord,  his  New  Atlantis,  284;  his  advocacy  of  an  exact  philosophy, 

323;  his  philosophy  studied  by  John  Fiske,  377. 
Bacteria,  as  causes  of  disease,  147-148,  151. 
Bakunin,  278. 

Ballot-reform,  necessity  of,  332. 

Beecher,  Rev.  Henry  Ward,  his  interest  in  evolution,  379. 
Bellamy,  Edward,  his  social  theory,  105 ;  his  theory  compared  with  the  wages 

•system,  232;  a  form  of  state-socialism,  263;  his  theory  criticized  by  William 

Potts,  281-285;  its  advocacy  of  equality  of  earnings,  283,  287 ;  state-socialism 

in  America,  317. 
Berkeley,  Bishop,  his  philosophy,  29. 
Bible,  its  teachings  in  regard  to  disease,  134;  its  authority,  130;  its  account  of 

creation,  205,  356 ;  on  wealth,  261-263,  264,  268. 
Biology,  its  relation  to  sociology,  22-23. 
Boston",  Mass.,  land- values  in,  2"92-293. 


394  Index. 

Botany,  its  relation  to  medical  science,  151;  Asa  Gray's  relation  to,  339-362; 

Eaton's  work  on,  340,  35C-3W);  Gray's  text-books  on,  341-344;   value  of  his 

contributions  to,  314-345,  352-356,  3C1. 
Bouvier,  on  inventions,  204. 
Brahmins,  their  marriage  customs,  73,  80,  83. 
Bronze  age,  53. 
Brook  Farm,  279. 

Hrougham,  Lord  Henrj-,  on  education,  244. 
IJrown,  Robert,  311. 
Bryce,  Professor,  on  the  evolution  of  the  American  Republic,  96 ;  on  the  gov- 

'  ernment  of  cities  in  the  United  States,  102. 
Budd,  Thomas,  his  advocacy  of  manual  training,  240. 
Buddha,  his  method  contrasted  with  that  of  Mohammed,  329. 

f'ABET,  his  Voyage  to  Icaria,  284. 

Calvin,  John,  liis  advocacy  of  education,  23" ;  his  relation  to  the  common-school 
system,  240 ;  his  paternalism,  268 ;  his  social  regulations,  273. 

Cambyses,  73. 

Campanella,  his  City  of  the  Sun,  284. 

Capital  and  labor,  the  relations  of,  224-232,  285,  286,  287. 

Capital  punishment,  316. 

Carey,  Henry  C,  on  farm  values,  292. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  on  character  in  rulers,  97 ;  on  education,  251. 

Carnegie,  Andrew,  on  improvements  in  agriculture,  97. 

Catlin,  on  Indian  marriage  customs,  78. 

Cave-men,  61. 

Chadwick,  Rev.  John  "W.,  on  the  theological  method  in  social  reform,  257-274 ; 
D.  G.  Thompson  on,  321 ;  his  remarks  on  E.  L.  Youmans,  389;  on  the  writ- 
ings of  John  Fiske,  38!). 

Channing,  Rev.  William  Henry,  his  acquaintance  with  E.  L.  Youmans,  371. 

Charity,  270-273. 

( 'harlemagne,  220. 

Chemistry,  as  related  to  medical  science,  145;  to  sanitation,  146-150;  Prof.  Y'ou- 
mans  study  of,  37:i;  his  diagrams,  373;  his  text-book  on,  373. 

Christianity,  as  related  to  agnosticism,  17-18,  21 ;  its  idea  of  marriage,  84-86;  a 
foe  to  n'ledical  progress,  134,  13<>,  137,  138;  its  fundamental  law,  186;  its  rela- 
tion to  education,  23("),  2.38;  its  two  phases  on  trial,  242;  its  social  ideals,  2(!1 ; 
its  teaching  concerning  poverty  and  wealth,  261 ;  its  relation  to  the  scien- 
tific method,  326. 

Chinese,  marriage  among,  83. 

Cicero,  his  definition  of  religion,  IS;  bis  remark  about  Socrates,  236. 

Cities,  the  government  of,  101 ;  the  growth  of,  220-221 ;  when  first  chartered,  221. 

City  government,  its  faibire,  101. 

Civil  liberty  and  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  24. 

Civil-service  reform,  285, 332. 

Clans,  their  i)lace  in  social  evolution,  94. 

Clark,  .lohii.  his  early  interest  in  evolution,  380. 

Classical  studies,  tlicir  value  in  education,  24ti. 

Cobbe,  .Miss  Frances  JVnvcr,  on  tlieisin,  .'545-.'{46. 

Cochran,  Dr.  J).  H..  on  P^.  L.  Youmans,  389. 

Codification,  124-126. 

Co-ediu'ation,  248-2.")(). 

Coleridge,  Chief  Justice,  on  Christianity  and  the  State,  112. 

Conienius,  his  relation  to  modern  educational  methods,  237-2.38. 

Comnuinism,  discussed  by  William  Potts,  279-280. 

Competition,  its  alleged  injustice,  286;  freedom  in  conii)etition  advocated  bv 
anarchists,  312,  314. 

Composita-,  .344,  :ir>'^,  ;«;i. 

Compulsory  education.  244. 

Comte,  Auguste,  his  contribution  to  social  science,  22;  his  philosophy  charac- 
terized by  John  Fiskc,  ;i77-.'i7S. 

Confucius,  his  influence  on  education,  236. 

Cook,  I'rof.  <;eorge  H.,  360. 

Co-o|)eration,  297.  31.i. 

Cope,  Dr.  Edward  D.,  criticized  by  A.  11.  Wallace,  4;  on  the  descent  of  man, 

Copernicus,  29,  .'«9. 

Coral  reefs,  Darwin's  conclusions  concerning  confirmed,  5  note. 

Correlation  of  Physical  Forces,  ;{H2. 

Coulanges.  M.  Fustel  de,  on  the  origin  of  society,  257. 

Crannoge- builders,  ,')9. 


Iiidex.  395 

Creation,  Bible  account  of,  205. 

Credit  system,  288. 

Crime,  can  it  be  cured  by  legislation?  184-185 ;  its  relation  to  education,  244 ;  tlie 

effect  of  jjoverty,  307. 
Critique  of  I'ure  Reason,  9. 
Croll,  Prof.,  on  causes  of  glacial  action,  55-5C;    on  the  duration  of  glacial 

periods,  5C. 
Culture  demanded  by  Modem  Life,  382,  387,  389. 

Darwin,  Charles  Robert,  Wallace's  resemblance  to,  3;  Wallace's  judgment 
of,  3 ;  his  theory  of  coral  reefs  contirmed,  5  note ;  his  Descent  of  Man,  66 ; 
his  law  in  the  evolution  of  protective  armor,  Kil ;  on  the  use  of  tools  by 
animals,  198;  on  the  character  of  primitive  man,  199;  the  truth  of  his  doc- 
trine, 253;  his  era,  300;  his  influence  on  civilization,  339;  his  views  about 
design  in  creation,  345;  his  friendship  with  Asa  Gray,  345,  361. 

Darwin,  George  H.,  on  consanguineous  marriages,  85. 

Darwiniana,  346,  348. 

Darwinism,  Wallace's  book  on,  3. 

Dawkins,  Bovd,  on  Early  Man  in  Britain,  49. 

De  Candolle,'341,  345. 

De  Foe,  Daniel,  on  almsgiving,  270. 

De  Lolme,  on  the  Englisli  ccmstitution,  97. 

De  Mille,  James,  his  Story  of  a  Strange  Manuscript,  328. 

Denison,  Edward,  on  charity,  271. 

Descartes,  377. 

Descent  of  Man,  45,  66. 

Dharna,  128-129. 

Diderot,  45. 

Dinichthys,  the  armor  of,  102,  103, 164, 179. 

Dinocere,  168. 

Dinosaur,  163. 

Dinotherium,  168. 

Divine  power  in  evolution,  345-346. 

Dohnens,  59,  62,  63. 

Donnisthorpe,  Wordsworth,  on  the  true  principles  of  legislation,  a33. 

Draper,  Prof.  John  William,  his  lectures  on  chemistry,  372. 

Drey,  Sylvan,  on  agnostic  religion,  21. 

Eatox,  Prof.  Amos,  his  works  studied  by  Asa  Gray,  .340,  357,  360 ;  his  contribu- 
tions to  botanical  science  described  by  James  A.  Skilton,  3,56-360. 

Eccles,Dr.  Robert  G.,  on  the  Relativity  of  Knowledge,  29-42;  on  the  Evolution 
of  Medical  Science,  133-156;  on  Asa  Gray,  360-361. 

Edison,  Thomas  A.,  300. 

Education  as  a  Factor  in  Civilization,  235-253. 

Education,  as  related  to  civilization,  235;  in  Egypt,  235;  of  primitive  man,  235; 
in  Persia,  Assyria,  Babylon,  Greece  and  Rome,  230 ;  its  relation  to  crime, 
243-246,  307  ;  to  pauperism,  243-244 ;  education  in  England,  243 ;  in  New  York, 
244;  in  (iermany,  244;  the  elective  system,  245;  education  of  women,  247-250 ; 
anarchistic  view  of,  307,  318;  as  related  to  the  scientific  method,  334-336; 
influence  of  Spencer's  work  on,  387. 

Education,  Spencer's  work  on ;  how  first  published  in  America,  378,  379 ;  its 
influence  on  Prof.  E.  L.  Youmans,  385 ;  on  educational  methods  in  America, 
387. 

Eleatic  philosophers,  on  Nature,  323. 

Eliot,  President,  on  the  university  graduate,  245. 

Elliott,  Ebenezer,  his  definition  of  the  communist,  279. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  45,  284,  300,  325. 

Enthusiasm,  evils  of  undue,  281,  329. 

Eocene  epoch,  no  traces  of  man  in,  47. 

Epaminondas,  247. 

Equisetum,  359. 

Ecjuity,  legal  status  of,  119. 

Erasmus,  his  relation  to  education,  237. 

Esquimaux,  56. 

Ethics,  evolutionary  doctrine  of,  18,  19,  21, 186;  relativity  of,  41,  42;  of  Chris- 
tianity, 273. 

Europe  before  man,  47-48, 

Evidencies  of  n)an's  antiquity,  50-55,  58. 

Evil,  nature  of,  19. 

Evolution,  the  scope  and  jirinciples  of  its  philosophv,  3-20;  of  marriage, 
69-87;  of  the  state,  91-108;  of  law,  111-130;  of  niedical  science,  133-1.56;  of 


396  Index. 

arms  and  armor,  150-187;  of  the  mechanic  arts,  191-214;  of  the  wages 
system,  217-232;  of  education,  230-253;  and  social  reform,  257-3;*;  Asa 
({ray's  contributions  to,  344-345,  3<«) ;  Kdward  L.  Youmans'  contributions 
to,  376-383;  Prof.  John  Fiske  on,  374,  377,  379,  380. 

Evolution  and  Social  Reform,  the  Theological  Method,  257-274;  the  Socialistic 
Method,  277-300 ;  the  Anarchistic  Method,  303-318;  the  Scientific  Method, 
321-336. 

Exercise,  artificial,  why  required  by  man,  194. 

Factory-system,  its  evolution,  229-230;  its  relation  to  wages,  230-231;  to 
child-labor,  307. 

Familist^e,  the,  281. 

Farragut,  Admiral,  180. 

Ferrara,  Andrea,  173. 

Fetishism,  in  medicine,  134,  140. 

Feudal  system,  220-223. 

Fiction,  in  law,  118-119,  130;  as  related  to  religion,  257,2.58. 

Fire,  its  importance  in  the  mechanic  arts,  201-202. 

First  Principles,  Spencer's,  7-8. 

Fiske,  John,  his  Cosmic  Philosophy,  6-7;  on  mind  and  matter,  15-10;  on 
Europe  before  man,  47-48;  on  man's  arrival  in  Europe,  55;  on  theipsychol- 
ogy  of  mechanics,  191;  on  infancy  as  related  to  mental  evolution,  1!»9;  on 
Ed'ward  Livingston  Youmans,  36.5-383,  389-390;  Rev.  John  W.  Chadwick  on, 
389. 

Fison,  Rev.  Lorimer,  on  marriage  in  Australia,  76. 

Flemings,  266. 

Flint  implements,  found  below  miocene  deposits,  49;  in  pliocene  deposits,  50; 
rough  and  i)olished,  .54  ;  Armand  de  Yire's  discoveries,  57 /loie  ,•  age  of ,  59. 

Flower,  Professor,  on  the  arbitrary  limitations  of  sense-perception,  13  note. 

Food,  of  i)rimitive  man,  .57;  as  related  to  ])oisons,  141 ;  necessity  of  thorough 
cooking,  148;  contagion  in,  148,  149;  of  plants  and  animals,  107-171;  as 
related  to  organization,  182;  its  unlimited  varietv,  201 ;  the  earliest  cook- 
ery, 202. 

Foster,  on  the  action  of  drugs,  143. 

Fourier,  his  communistic  ideas  explained  by  Oronlund,  277 ;  his  phalansteries, 
279. 

French  revolution,  2(i5. 

Froel>el,  his  relation  to  modern  educational  methods,  2.39 ;  to  manual  training, 
241. 

(Jalen,  his  contributions  to  medical  science,  1.36;  subsequent  subserviency  to, 
137  ;  conflict  with  his  dis('ii)les.  140 ;  the  truth  resulting  therefrom,  141 ;"  his 
account  of  the  first  anatomists,  144;  progress  since  his  time,  150. 

r.alileo,  29,  3;(9. 

(iaiton,  Francis,  his  law  of  regression  toward  mediocrity,  4;  on  celibacy,  261. 

(iarrison,  William  Llovd,  his  religious  character,  270;  his  anarchistic  "views, 
315. 

(Jaudry,  M.,  on  carved  imiilements,  49. 

Genesis  and  science,  Asa  (iray  on,  356. 

Geological  i)eriods,  47-48. 

George,  Henry,  his  oiqjosition  to  land-ownership,  287;  his  theory  exjjlained 
and  criticized  bv  William  I'otts,  287-294;  impracticability  of  his  theory, 
293-294. 

fJlacnal  eixM'h,  .50;  as  related  to  primitive  man,  51. 

(iladstone,  Hon.  William  E.,  on  rei^nt  iiicrea.se  in  wealth,  244. 

(ilyptodon,  its  bony  armor,  163;  comi)ared  with  militant  societies,  178-182. 

Gifvernment,  its  evolution,  !»2-'.i4;  its  earliest  form,  94;  its  monarchical  form, 
95;  gradual  modifications  of,  95,  '.)6 ;  democratic  and  rei>resentative  tenden- 
cies, 9«),  97;  the  American  system,  97,  98;  government  by  the  governed, 
i»8-l(K);  of  large  cities,  1(11,102;  how  it  has  evolved,  104;  antagonistic  the- 
ories, 105;  anari'hism  oj)i)oscd  to  government  by  force,  304,  312,  313;  its 
functions  should  be  limited,  274,  317,  32.5-;i26. 

Gray,  Prof.  Asa,  284;  his  life  and  work,  .■i,39-.3«;2;  his  advocacy  of  Darwinism, 
339;  his  early  years,  340;  his  connection  with  Dr.  Torrey,  ;J40-343;  his  pro- 
fe.s.sorshij)  at  Harvard,  342;  his  works  on  botany,  ,341-.'{45;  his  personal 
friendshii»s,  34.5;  his  contributions  to  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  344-.345; 
his  religious  views,  .34.5-;{46,  ;}56,  .'«'>1 ;  his  corresi)ondeni^e,  347-349 ;  Prof.  C.  S. 
Sargent  on,  .•U4-.'545;  Mrs.  Mary  Treat  on,  :v.V.\-:V)2:  Miss  Eliza  A.  Youmans 
on,  .'{.52-3.55;  Dr.  L.  G.  Janes  on",  35.5-^56;  James  A.  Skilton  on,  357,  360;  Dr. 
Robert  (J.  Eccles  on,  360-3<i2. 


Index.  397 

Greeley,  Horace,  his  acquaintance  with  E.  L.  Youmans,  371 ;  compared  with 

Prof.  Youmans,  387. 
Greenbackers,  218. 

Green,  John  Richard,  on  charity,  271. 
iJregory  the  Great,  his  socialism,  265. 

Gronlund,  Laurence,  on  Fourierism,  277;  his  benevolent  intent,  281. 
Group-marriage,  7G,  77. 
Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation,  69-87. 
Gunton,  Professor  George,  on  the  evolution  of  the  wages  system,  217-232; 

his  advocacy  of  reduced  hours  of  labor,  331. 
Gurney,  Professor,  his  early  interest  in  evolution,  380. 

HADROSAtTR,  168. 

Hahnemann,  his  translation  of  the  Materia  Medica,  141-142 ;  his  theory  crit- 
icized by  Dr.  Eccles,  142;  defended  by  Dr.  W.  S.  Searle,  142  note;  why 
credit  is  due  him,  142. 

Hamilton,  Sir  William,  his  influence  on  Prof.  Huxley,  9. 

Hands,  how  they  were  developed,  193. 

Harvey,  William,  his  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  145. 

Heilprin,  Professor  Angelo,  on  coral  reefs,  5  note. 

Heredity,  discussed  by  Weismann  and  Wallace,  4;  as  related  to  education,  252. 

Herodotus,  on  lake-dwellings  among  the  Pseonians,  62. 

Hippocrates,  on  earlv  medical  knowledge,  135. 

Holmes,  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell,  on  the  American  idea,  242. 

Homeopathy,  criticized  by  Dr.  Eccles,  135-139,  1.42;  defended  by  Dr.  Searle, 
142  note. 

Hooker,  Sir  Joseph,  his  acquaintance  with  Asa  Gray,  341 ;  his  eminence  as  a 
botanist,  341-342;  his  evolutionary  views,  345;  his  portrait,  with  Asa  Gray, 
351 ;  his  opinion  of  Prof.  Gray,  353 ;  his  estimate  of  Herbert  Spencer,  353. 

Hooper,  Professor  Franklin  AV.,  on  Edward  L.  Youmans,  386-3C7. 

Hoplology,  186. 

Howard,  Professor,  on  the  Xew  England  township,  98. 

Huguenots,  their  relation  to  modern  industrialism,  266. 

Hume,  David,  his  influence  on  Prof.  Huxley,  9;  his  philosophy,  29. 

Huxley,  Prof.  Thomas  H.,  his  suggestion  of  the  word  "Agnostic,"  9;  his 
advocacy  of  women  on  boards  of  education,  248 ;  his  friendship  with  E.  L. 
Youmans,  379 ;  his  influence  in  promoting  the  sale  of  Spencer's  works,  381. 

Hyndman,  his  state-socialism,  263. 

Iberians,  61. 

Ichthyosaurus,  162, 164, 167. 

Idealism,  its  philosophy  criticized,  14, 15 ;  Berkeley's  relation  to,  29  ;  explained 

by  Dr.  Eccles,  30  et'seq.;  regarded  as  a  theory,  37. 
Idleness,  statutes  against,  229,  and  7iotc. 
Iguanodon,  162,  164,  168. 

lies,  George,  on  Edward  L.  Youmans,  387-389. 
Immortal  life,  5. 

Inilividualism,  278,  297,  304,  324-325;  Wordsworth  Donnisthorpe  on,  333. 
Industrial  evolution,  191-214,  220-227,  260,  261,  33*J. 
Industrial  training,  240-241. 
Inland  seas  of  the  Pliocene,  50. 
Insectivorous  plants,  347-349. 
Intemperance,  288,  307. 

Interest,  its  alleged  injustice,  282,  285-286,  308-310. 
Internationalism,  279,  282. 
Inventions,  genesis  of,  203;  definition  of,  204;  meaning  of  the  word,  205,  206; 

evolution  of,  208-210;  of  women,  210,  211 ;  influence  on  civilizatiou,  211-214; 

stimulated  by  improvement  among  the  masses,  225. 
Ionic  philosophers,  on  Nature,  323. 
Iron  age,  53. 
Isis,  323. 

Jaxp:s,  Dr.  Lewis  G.,  272;  on  the  scope  and  principles  of  the  evolution  phi- 
losophy, 3-26 ;  on  the  origin  of  the  marriage  relation,  75 ;  on  Asa  Gray, 
355-356" 

Japan,  the  flora  of,  344,  354,  356. 

Japanese,  their  belief  about  marriage,  85. 

Jesus,  his  essential  thought,  17 ;  understood  by  the  agnostic,  42 ;  his  anticipated 
return  to  earth  as  related  to  Christian  views  of  marriage,  84 ;  his  exalted 
ethics  and  human  nature,  92 ;  his  optimistic  preaching,  107 ;  his  doctrine 


398  Index. 

of  inward  fjrowth,  183;  his  views  on  marriafje,  201,  2G2,  203,  204;  on  poverty 
and  wealth,  202;  his  comnumisni,  203,  204 ;  liis  disbelief  in  the  continuance 
of  the  existinj^  social  order,  203;  his  humanity,  270;  Ins  sympathetic  spirit, 
271 ;  his  ideal  life,  273;  on  right  action,  334. 

Jesuits,  their  introduction  of  Cinchona,  139;  their  influence  on  education,  238. 

Jews,  their  marriage  customs,  84;  tlieir  code  of  laws,  123;  their  attitude 
toward  medical  science,  134,  207;  their  enterprise  and  wealth,  200;  their 
Old  Testament  ideals,  201,  202;  their  financial  successes  in  Christian 
countries,  260;  their  influence  on  modem  intellectual  life,  207;  their 
importance  to  European  f^overninents,  2(>8. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Samuel,  his  relations  with  Herbert  Spencer  and  Prof.  Youmans, 
377. 

Joly,  Professor  N.,  on  the  discoveries  of  M.  Boucher  de  Perthes,  46,  47. 

Julian,  the  Emperor,  on  Christian  charity,  270. 

Justinian  code,  123,  126. 

Kant,  Emanuel,  on  the  validity  of  speculative  judgments,  9;  his  philosophy, 

25*. 
Keller,  Professor,  on  lake-dwellings,  60,  61. 

Kelts,  as  related  to  the  lake-dwellers,  61 ;  to  the  dolmen-builders,  03. 
Kepler,  29. 

Kimball,  Rev.  John  C,  on  evolution  of  arms  and  armor,  159-187, 192. 
Kindergarten,  239,  241. 
Kingsley,  Canon,  on  education,  244. 
Kinship,  among  the  Australians,  71 ;  McLennan  on,  72;  amonfr  the  Peruvians, 

73;  among  the  I'ersians,  73;  among  the  Tibetans,  79;  as  related  to  marriage 

by  capture,  81,  82. 
Kitchen-middens,  59-00. 
Knox,  John,  his  introduction  of  public  schools  in  Scotland,  240. 

Labor,  of  primitive  man,  02;  man's  adaptation  for,  192-194, 197;  inventions 
as  related  to,  212-214 ;  as  related  to  slavery,  219-220,  269-270 ;  to  the  wages 
system,  217-219,  220-232;  manual  training  as  a  i)reparation  for,  240,  241;  as 
related  to  wealth,  291,  307-308. 

Lake-dwellers,  60-02. 

Lamarck,  3-4,  359. 

Land,  the  question  of  private  ownership,  282,  287,  308,  309;  the  taxation  of 
land-values,  287-2i»4,  29<) ;  relation  of  land-values  to  the  value  of  improve- 
ments, 292-2ii3;  the  freedom  of  vacant  land  advocated  by  anarchists, 
,'?08-30i),  312,  313,  310;  how  far  its  restriction  mav  be  scientitically  advocated, 
331. 

Lassalle,  Ferdinand,  his  state-socialism,  279,  281 ;  how  he  would  thrive  under 
it,  284. 

Law,  the  evolution  of,  111-130;  how  it  begins,  113;  custom  as  related  to,  115; 
religion  as  related  to,  110;  fiction  in,  118;  equity  jurisprudence,  119;  legal 
codification,  123;  anarchistic  opposition  to,  312;  simplification  of,  neces- 
sary, 325,  326,  327. 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  on  heresy,  260;  on  the  persecution  of  the  Jews,  267. 

lA'inur,  49. 

Leon,  city  of,  when  chartered,  221. 

Le  How,  Miss  Caroline  15.,  on  education  as  a  factor  in  civilization,  2,35-253. 

I^ewes,  Georjie  Henry,  377. 

Liniueus,  354,  355,  356. 

Loan,  city  of,  when  chartered,  221-222., 

Lollards, "their  enterprise,  200. 

London,  when  charleretl,  221. 

Lowell,  .Tames  Russell,  on  the  teacher,  252. 

Lubbock,  Sir  .Tohn,  on  the  arbitrary  limitation  of  sense-perception,  13  note: 
on  primitive  man,  5,');  on  the  causes  of  glacial  action,  .50;  on  the  bronze 
age,  ()5;  on  early  sui)erstitions,  l.'J4,  l.'{5;  on  man's  first  use  of  tools,  198; 
on  scientific  i)r<">gress  as  related  to  civilization,  247;  his  influence  in  pro- 
motiufi;  the  sale  of  Herbert  Spencer's  works,  381. 

Luno,  173. 

Luther,  Martin,  the  progressive  nature  of  his  protest,  107;  the  legend  of  his 
ink-stand,  237  ;  his  introduction  of  free  schools  in  Germany,  24(». 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  on  the  aye  of  primitive  man,  .54;  his  work  on  j^eology.  ;i74. 

MACiiAiKonrs,  its  natural  weapons,  163;  compared  with  the  modern  militant 

state,  178. 
Maine,  Sir  Henrv  Sumner,  on  judge-made  law,  112;  his  definition  of  e(]uity, 

119;  on  codirication,  120;  on  status  and  contract,  130. 


Index.  399 

Magna  Charta,  223. 

Mallock,  on  agnosticism,  8. 

Malthusianisni,  359. 

Man,  earliest  traces  of,  46-51;  cave-dwellers,  51;  contemporary  with  extinct 
species,  54 ;  his  tirst  food,  57 ;  clothing,  57 ;  his  marriage-customs,  09-87 ; 
in  association,  92  et  seq.;  his  political  rights,  99-101 ;  his  relation  to  the 
State,  10(;-108;  his  legal  obligations,  111-130;  his  superstitions,  133-141 ;  his 
struggle  for  existence,  173-187 ;  his  tools  and  work-shop,  191-214 ;  his  indus- 
trial progress,  217-232 ;  his  intellectual  growth,  235-253. 

Mann,  Horace,  on  free  schools,  240;  his  treatise  on  arithmetic,  372. 

Manning,  Kichard  Henry,  his  acquaintance  with  Prof.  Youmans,  389. 

Manual  education,  240-242. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  on  the  unity  of  man,  99. 

Marriage,  its  origin  and  growth,  69-87 ;  in  the  animal  kingdom,  70 ;  among  the 
Hebrews,  70;  Australian  customs,  71 ;  dettnition  of,  74;  affection  its  true 
foundation,  75;  marriage  by  ca])ture,  81-82;  Christian  ideas  about,  84-86; 
Jesus'  teaching  about,  201,  263;  Edward  Bellamy  on,  284. 

Marx,  Karl,  his  state-socialism,  263 ;  discussed  by  AVilliam  Potts,  279,  281,  284. 

Materialism,  its  philosophy  criticized,  12-15. 

Maxwell,  Gierke,  his  theory  of  light,  13,  38. 

McLennan,  Dr.,  his  views  on  marriage,  72;  on  polyandry,  80;  on  marriage  by 
capture,  81-82. 

Mechanic  Arts,  evolution  of,  191-214. 

Mechanism  of  the  human  body,  192,  197. 

Medical  Science,  evolution  of,  1.33-15();  relation  of  religion  to,  134-137;  an 
inductive  science,  154;  its  altruistic  character,  156. 

Medical  superstitions,  138,  139. 

Megalosaurus,  162,  163,  IM,  167. 

Megatherium,  163,  164, 16C. 

Melancthon,  his  relation  to  education,  237. 

Meta-gnosticism,  9. 

Microlestes,  184. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  on  the  test  of  good  government,  98;  on  the  unearned  incre- 
ment, 291. 

Moliammed,  his  method  of  conquest  comjiared  with  that  of  Buddha,  329. 

Mohammedans,  their  marriage  customs,  83;  their  contributions  to  medical  sci- 
ence, 137 ;  to  intellectual  and  scientific  jirogress,  267. 

Monandry,  70,  83. 

Monarchv,  94,  95 ;  as  related  to  the  wages  system,  220-223. 

Monasticism,  84,  194,  261,  265-266. 

Mondino,  144. 

Money,  its  nature  and  uses,  309-310. 

Monogamy,  79,  83-84. 

Monopoly,  opposed  by  anarchism,  307-312. 

Montaigne,  his  relation  to  education,  237. 

Moral  education,  necessity  for,  243,  334-335. 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  his  Utopia,  42,  10;i-104,  231,  284. 

Morgan,  Hon.  L.  H.,  on  Aryan  marriage  customs,  71. 

Morris,  William,  his  state-socialism,  284. 

Mosasaurus,  162,  103,  164. 

Mound-builders,  64-65. 

Mugwump-spirit,  the  Zeit-geist  of  to-day,  329. 

Nairs,  their  marriage  customs,  80. 

Nationalism,  oi)i)(jse'd  to  the  wages  system,  218 ;  its  probable  results  compared 

with  those  of  the  wages  system,  232;  discussed  by  William  Potts,  287-294; 

opposed  by  anarchism,  317 ;  as  related  to  the  scientific  method,  322,  327. 
Natural  selection,  defended  by  A.  R.  Wallace,  3-5;  Darwin's  relation  to,  00;  its 

influence  on  thought,  339;  Darwin  first  announces  it  to  Asa  Gray,  301 ;  its 

slow  operation,  371. 
Nature,  what  we  mean  by,  323. 
Neolithic  age,  53. 
New  England  town-meetings,  98. 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  his  law  of  gravitation,  360 ;  compared  with  Herbert  Spencer, 

380. 
New  York  Grocers'  Associaticm,  their  anarchistic  method,  306,  314-315. 
Nichols,  Starr  H.,  on  agnosticism,  8. 
Nihilism,  277,  278. 
Noyon,  when  chartered,  221,  222. 

Object-teachixg,  advocated  by  Coiuenius  and  Pestalozzi,  239 ;  Ijy  Froebel,  239. 
Obsession,  ].'U. 


400  Index. 

()lij>ortuiiisin,  advocated  by  William  I'otts,  297-298. 
Origin  ot  Species,  3,  50,  359,  377. 
OrtiKKienis,  162. 
Osiris,  323. 

I'AI-^OLITHIC  AGE,  53. 

I'aracelsus,  140. 

I'arker,  Theodore,  his  sermon  on  the  duties  of  milk-men,  273. 

Tarty-spirit,  dangers  of,  329-330. 

I'atent-oftice,  its  records  illustrative  of  evolution,  203. 

I'atent  rights,  207. 

Patents,  209-211. 

I'atriarchal  system,  as  related  to  the  evolution  of  government,  94. 

raul,  his  views  of  marriage,  84;  on  legalism,  18.5;  the  value  of  his  truth,  2.">3; 

his  belief  in  the  speedy  destruction  of  the  existing  social  order,  20.3;  his 

communistic  teaching,  204. 
I'entecost,  Hugh  O.,  on  the  anarchistic  method  of  social  reform,  .'{03-318. 
I'cricles,  87. 

I'errin,  Raymond  S.,  his  philos<)i)hy,  31. 
Perthes,  Boucher  de,  his  discoveries  at  Abl)eville,  4(i ;  how  they  were  received, 

52,  53. 
Pestalozzi,  his  relation  to  education,  238-239. 
Pharmac'v,  as  related  to  medical  science,  145. 
Philosophy,  of  evolution,  its  scope  and  principles,  3-26;  cosmic  philosophy,  7: 

synthetic  philosophy,  7;  of  the  unconditioned,  9;   of  agnosticism,  8-16;  of 

materialism,  criticized,  14-15 ;  as  related  to  ethics,  18-20 ;  to  sociology,  22-25 ; 

to  the  relativity  of  knowledge,  29-42. 
Physiology,  of  sensation,  32-33 ;  as  related  to  medical  science,  145. 
I'ius  IX.,  on  the  public  schools,  242. 

Plants,  protective  armor  of,  107-169, 172;  social  qualities  of,  170. 
I'lato,  his  ideaof  a  government  by  the  governed,  99 ;  his  contempt  for  trade,  104 ; 

his  dream  of  future  progress,  107 ;  characteristics  of  his  age,  2;50 ;  value  of 

his  truth,  2.");i;  his  ideal  llei)ublic,  104,  284;  on  the  cure  of  the  soul,  334. 
Pleistocene  epoch,  evidences  of  man's  existence  in,  47. 
IMiocene  epoch,  evidences  of  man's  existence  in,  49. 
Poietics,  206. 
Politics,  its  relation  to  industry,  283,  330-331 ;    to  anarchism,  31.3,  314 ;    to  good 

government,  3.31-333. 
I'olyandry,  early  evidences  of,  57 ;  its  place  in  social  evolution,  79-80,  83. 
I'olygyny,  early'evidences  of,  57;  its  place  in  social  evolution,  76-79. 
I'oor-laws,  229. 

I'opular  Science  Monthly,  360,  383,  385,  380,  38X. 
I'ottery,  of  i)rehistoric  races,  60. 
Potts,  William,  on  the  socialistic  method,  277-300;  his  socialism  endorsed  by 

1).  (i.  Thompson,  321-322;  on  Asa  (iray,  3<>0. 
Poverty,  evolution's  word  about,  22;  as  "related  to  the  wages  system,  224-2.'}3; 

primitive  Christian  views  of,  201-260;  as  related  to  lan(i-morioi)oly,  287,  288; 

regarded  as  a  social  disease,  .'J06-30«. 
Preaching,  as  a  means  of  social  reform,  272-273. 
I'rimitive  Christianity  and  education,  23<>-237. 
Primitive  man,  4.">-(;0. 
Princii)les  of  Sociology,  159. 
Profit-sharing,  297. 
Prohibitory  laws,  18.5. 
ProtesUmtism,  as  related  to  the  marriage  (piestion,  85;  to  medical  evolution, 

!.«• ;  to  education,  230,  240 ;  to  social  reform,  267-269. 
Psvcliolofrv,  Princii)les  of,  195,  19<;,  370,  377. 
Ptcranodon,  KvJ. 
Pterodactyl,  Hi3. 
i'ublic  schools,  their  origin,  240;  manual  training  in,  240-241 ;  Pius  IX.  on,  242; 

seculariziition  of  necessary,  24;i ;  moral  education  in,  24.'i;  advocated  as  an 

element  in  the  scientific  method  of  social  reform,  ;}34-3;J5. 
Pythagoras,  his  relation  to  medical  science,  l.'Jo. 

(jiAKKKs,  their  non-resistance  i>rinciples,  201 ;  their  industrial  enterprise,  267. 

Uabki.ais,  2;S7. 

Ilaces  of  men,  48. 

Ilaymond,  Dr.  Kossitcr  W .,  his  Xeo-Lamarckism,  4. 

Relativity  of  Knowledge,  29-42. 


Index.  401 

Religion,  its  definition,  18;  its  relation  to  evolution,  18-22;  of  primitive  man, 
58;  its  relation  to  law,  116;  its  relation  to  medical  science,  13S-137;  to  arms 
and  armor,  183-184 ;  its  relation  to  the  State,  257-258 ;  to  morality,  259 ;  to 
social  reform,  257-274 ;  to  charity,  271 ;  to  personal  character,  273-274. 

Rensselaer,  Stephen  van,  357. 

Rent,  the  justice  of,  289-293;  its  injustice  alleged  by  anarchism,  308-309. 

Representative  government,  its  evolution,  95-101;  its  defects,  101-103;  as 
related  to  education,  244. 

Republic,  Plato's,  104,  284. 

Ripley,  George,  his  early  interest  in  evolution,  379. 

River-drift  men,  51. 

Roberts,  George,  his  early  interest  in  evolution,  380. 

Roman  Catholicism,  its  views  of  the  marriage-relation,  84,  85,  264;  its  relation 
to  medical  science,  136-140;  to  education,  236,  237,  238,  242;  to  the  public 
school  system,  242;  to  wealth,  264,  265,  267 ;  to  the  scientific  spirit,  265;  to 
interest^  268 ;  to  labor,  269 ;  to  slavery,  270 ;  its  denunciation  of  Copernicus, 
339. 

Romanes,  George  J.,  on  the  mechanic  arts,  191 ;  on  animals  as  related  to 
mechanisms,  196;  on  animal  intelligence,  196-197;  on  the  advancement  of 
human  intelligence,  213. 

Sampson,  Z.  Sidney,  on  primitive  man,  45-C6;  on  the  age  of  the  human  race, 
107. 

Sanitary  science,  the  growth  of,  148-150. 

Sargent,  Professor  Charles  Sprague,  on  Asa  Gray,  344-345,  349,  352. 

Schopenhauer,  on  the  improvement  of  the  race,  87. 

Science,  the  foe  of  materialism,  12, 14;  on  the  nature  of  sense-perception,  13, 
30,31;  on  the  eternity  of  matter,  15,  16  note;  of  society,  22;  its  wonders, 
38-40 ;  of  archaeology,  45,  60 ;  its  testimony  to  man's  antiquity ;  46 ;  of  gov- 
ernment, 103;  of  medicine,  133-156;  of  lioplology,  186  ;  of  poietics,  206 ;  of 
psychology,  239;  in  education,  244,  247,  252 ;  its  relation  to  social  reform, 
321-336. 

Scientific  Method,  in  social  reform,  321-336 ;  the  method  defined,  322-325 ;  as 
distinguished  from  the  theological  method,  326;  from  the  anarchistic 
method,  326;  from  the  socialistic  method,  327;  its  practicability,  327-329 ; 
it  favors  personal  independence,  329-330;  practical  suggestions  relating  to, 
330-336. 

Scientific  studies,  the  value  of,  246-247. 

Scoi)e  and  Principles  of  the  Evolution  Philosophy,  3-26. 

Searle,  Dr.  W.  S.,  his  defense  of  homeopathy,  142'. 

Seely,  on  inventions,  206 ; 

Sense-perception,  the  nature  of,  13,  29-32. 

Sequoia,  345,  355-356. 

Servetus,  Michael,  his  medical  heresies,  144. 

Serviss,  Garrett  P.,  on  Edward  L.  Younians,  388. 

Sheldon,  Professor  Rufus,  on  the  Evolution  of  Law,  111-130. 

Shell-mounds,  59-60. 

Silsbee,  Edward,  377. 

Single-tax,  287,  296. 

Skilton,  James  A.,  his  metargnosticism,  9;  on  the  evolution  of  the  mechanic 
arts,  191-214;  on  Amos  Eaton  and  Asa  Gray,  356-360. 

Slavery,  of  the  masses  in  early  times,  97;  recognized  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  U.  S.,  100;  of  debtors,  under  the  Roman  law,  128;  American,  relation 
of  inventions  to,  212,  213;  its  relation  to  the  wages  system,  219-220;  under 
the  feudal  system,  221-223;  its  relation  to  poverty,  224-225;  a  penalty  for 
idleness  in  the  sixteenth  century,  229  note;  Aristotle  on  Solon's  relation 
to,  258;  the  views  of  Jesus  and  I'aul  concerning,  264;  fundamental  in  the 
Pagan  world,  269 ;  American,  the  relation  of  Christianity  to,  2C9-270 ;  its 
relation  to  socialism,  283 ;  its  relation  to  the  anarchistic  method,  315. 

Social  Reform,  Evolution  and,  23;  the  theological  method,  267-274;  the  social- 
istic method,  277-300;  the  anarchistic  method,  303-318;  the  scientific 
method,  321-336. 

Socialism,  as  related  to  the  evolution  of  the  State,  104,  105;  to  the  wages 
system,  218,  224,  231,232;  an  early  type  of  societary  development,  258 ;  its 
decay,  258;  its  modern  revival,  258;  its  Christian  phase,  263,  264 ;  Gregory 
the  Great  its  patron  saint,  265 ;  partial  wisdom  of  its  theorv,  274 ;  discussed 
by  William  Potts,  277-300;  as  related  to  anarchism,  304,"  317-318 ;  to  the 
scientific  method,  322,  327 ;  present  tendencies  toward,  in  America,  333. 

Socialistic  Method,  277-300;  as  opposed  to  the  scientific,  327. 

Social  Statics,  377. 


402  Index. 

Sociology,  as  related  to  evolution,  22;  compared  with  biologj',  23;  as  related 
to  primitive  man,  65;  to  natural  science,  159. 

Socrates,  his  influence  on  philosophy,  230;  his  ethical  principles,  242. 

Solon,  his  exaltation  of  labor,  258. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  his  Factors  of  Organic  Evolution  criticised  by  A.  R. 
Wallace,  4;  on  the  scope  of  the  evolution  philosophy,  G;  on  freedom  of 
opinions,  7,  8;  on  agno.sticism,  8;  on  the  Unknown  Cause,  8,  20;  on  sociol- 
ogy, 9 ;  on  the  relativity  of  knowledge,  10, 11 ;  his  definition  of  life,  11 ;  on 
the  personality  of  the  Absolute,  20;  his  science  of  sociology,  22;  influence 
of  his  philosophy,  2t»;  on  promiscuity  in  early  marriage  customs,  70;  on 
exogamy  and  endogamy,  72;  on  monogamy  among  certain  races,  78;  on 
wife-purchase,  81 ;  on  organization  as  related  to  growth,  i>2;  on  society  as 
an  organism,  15it;  on  the  i)sychological  genesis  of  the  mechanic  arts,  191, 
195, 196;  on  the  influence  of  "machinervon  mental  progress,  213;  his  ethical 
principles,  242;  his  regenerating  philosophy,  2i0 ;  the  value  of  his  truth, 
253;  his  era,  300;  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  on,  3.")3;  his  relations  with  Edward  L. 
Youmans,  3<j6,  375-381 ;  his  letter  to  the  Ethical  Association  on  Edward  L. 
Youmans,  390. 

Spontaneous  generation,  A.  R.  Wallace  on,  5. 

Scarcke,  Professor  €.  N.,  on  the  motives  for  marriage,  74. 

S-,ate,  Evolution  of  the,  91-108;  necessity  of  limiting  its  power,  327. 

S:ate-socialism,  as  advocated  by  Edward  Bellamy,  105,  224,  2(»;  discuss^ed  by 
William  Potts,  280-287 ;  advocated  by  Lassalle  "and  Marx,  279,  281 ;  opposed 
by  anarchism,  317 ;  as  related  to  the  scientlflc  method,  322,  327. 

Steeiistrup,  I'rofessor,  on  the  age  of  pala-olithic  man,  59. 

Stickney,  Albert,  on  True  Democratic  (iovernment,  100, 101 ;  on  the  Political 
Problem,  103;  on  government  by  the  people,  107. 

Stonehenge,  62. 

Strong,  Dr.,  on  progress  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  97. 

Stubbs,  Professor,  on  taxation  aiul  rei)resentati()n,  97,  98. 

Sumner,  Professor  William  C;.,  on  civil  liberty,  24,  and  24  note. 

Sui)ernaturalism,  in  medicine,  l,3,'J-l.'i<'). 

Sylvius,  his  discovery  of  valves  in  the  veins,  144. 

T.A.KIFF-REFORM,  inefficacy  of  n   priori  theorizing  about,  25;    its  effect  in 

England,  266;  necessity  for  in  America,  332. 
Taxation,  as  related  to  rei)resentation,  97,  98;  in  feudal  times,  222;  Henry 

(Jeorge's  theory  of,  287-294;  sound  principles  concerning,  294-296;  in  the 

United  States,  295;  compulsorj-  taxation  opposed  by  anarchism,  311. 
Tavlor,  John  A.,  on  the  Evolution'of  the  State,  91-108. " 
T''hernychevski,  his  advocacy  of  Nihilism,  278. 

Theological  Method  of  Social"  Reform,  257-274;  as  opposed  to  the  scientific,  326. 
Thompson,  Daniel  (ireenleaf,  on  society  as  an  organism,  92 ;  on  the  scuentiflc 

method  in  social  reform,  3'2l-XM'>;  oii  Edward  L.  Y'^oumans,  384-387. 
Tillotson,  Archbishoj),  on  the  (hities  of  mothers,  273. 
Tolstoi,  Count  Lyof  N.,  on  marriage  and  labor,  263. 
Torreya,  .'55(;. 
Torrey,  Dr.  .Tohn,  his  connection  with  Asa  Gray,  340-."543;  his  contributions  to 

botanical  science,  341,  343;  his  eminence  as  a  botanist,  341. 
Toynbee,  Arnold.  271. 
Tovnbee  Hall.  271. 

Treat,  Mrs.  .Mary,  on  Asa  Gray,  339-351,  352,  354. 
Turgudneff,  278." 

TTnearned  Incrkmkxt,  291. 

University,  the,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  244;  as  related  to  modern  life,  245;  Pres- 
ident Eliot  on,  245;  evolution  of,  245;  true  value  of,  24(i;  classical  studies 
in,  247. 

T'nknowable,  the  doctrine  of,  9-13,  20,  31-34. 

Usurv,  268.    (See  Interest.) 

Utopia,  Sir  Thomas  More's,  42,  103,  104,  231,  284. 

Van  der  Wevde,  Professor  P.  H.,  on  the  causes  of  glacial  action,  54  )iote. 

Variations,  3.  :i.'>x. 

Ventilation,  147. 

Vcsalius,  on  the  anatomy  of  the  veins  and  arteries,  144. 

Vestiges  of  Creation,  359,  371. 

Virchow,  Professor,  on  the  age  of  flint  implements,  .59;  on  the  lake^dwellers, 

61. 
Vire,  Armand  de,  his  discovery  of  flint  inii)lements,  57  note. 


Index.  403 

Wages,  definition  of,  218 ;  as  related  to  civilization,  231 ;  equality  of,  under 
tlie  Nationalist  system,  283. 

Wages-system,  evolution  of,  217-232;  economic  characteristics  of,  218;  as 
opposed  to  slavery,  219;  its  origin  and  growth,  220-224;  its  relation  to 
material  improvement,  224-225 ;  to  social  freedom,  226 ;  to  modern  civiliza- 
tion, 231. 

Wake,  C.  Staniland,  on  the  growth  of  the  marriage  relation,  G9-87. 

Walker,  Gen.  Francis  A.,  on  inventions,  204-205;  on  agricultural  land  values, 
292. 

Wallace,  Alfred  Russel,  his  criticism  of  Lamarckism,  3;  on  Darwinism,  3-5 ; 
his  criticism  of  Prof.  Cope,  4;  on  stages  of  organic  evolution,  5. 

Warren,  Josiah,  on  money,  310. 

Wealth,  the  measure  of  social  freedom,  224;  how  increased  by  the  wages 
system,  225 ;  the  New  Testament  on,  261 ;  the  Jewish  idea  about,  261-262 ;  of 
the  Catholic  church,  265 ;  of  Christendom,  266 ;  who  are  its  producers?  307 ; 
unfair  distribution  of,  308-311 ;  unjust  appropriation  of,  313. 

Weismann,  Professor,  on  heredity,  4. 

Whitman,  Walt,  his  individualism,  324. 

Willard,  Miss  Emma,  on  the  education  of  women,  247. 

Wilson,  Andrew,  on  marriage  customs  in  Tibet,  79. 

Woman,  in  the  marriage  relation,  69-87;  her  rights  under  the  law,  120,  122; 
increasing  freedom  of,  130;  as  an  inventor,  210,  211;  the  education  of, 
247-250;  in  the  professions,  247-248;  her  co-education  with  man,  248-249. 

Worcester,  Mass.,  labor  statistics  from,  285. 

AV'ordsworth,  William,  45. 

Youmaxs.EdwakdL.,  his  talk  with  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  on  Asa  Gray,  353 ;  his 
introduction  of  Dr.  Kccles  to  Asa  Gray,  360 ;  his  life  and  work,  365-390 ;  his 
education,  368-370 ;  his  relations  with  Herbert  Spencer,  366,  375,  376-381,  385; 
his  blindness,  370,  372,  388 ;  liis  career  as  a  popular  lecturer,  374-376,  384,  385 ; 
his  contributions  to  the  spread  of  evolution  views,  376, 378,  383;  Prof.  John 
Fiske  on,  365-383,  389-390;  Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  on,  384-386;  Prof. 
Franklin  W.  Hooper  on,  386-387;  Garrett  P.  Serviss  on,  387;  George  lies 
on,  387-389;  his  letter  to  Mr.  lies,  388-389;  Rev.  John  W.  Chadwick  on,  389; 
Dr.  D.  H.  Cochran  on,  389 ;  Herbert  Spencer  on,  390. 

Youmans,  Mrs.  Edward  L.,  379,  384. 

Youmans,  Miss  Eliza  A.,  her  recognition  of  Herbert  Spencer,  250;  on  Asa 
Gray,  352-355;  her  aid  to  Prof.  Youmans,  372 ;  she  introduces  him  to  D.  Ap- 
pleton  &  Co.'s  office,  378;  her  biographical  sketch  of  her  brother,  385. 

Youmans,  Yincent,  367-368. 

Zola,  M.,  his  mechanical  method,  336. 

Zoroaster,  his  influence  on  Judaism,  84;  his  views  of  marriage,  84,  87. 


SIXTH     THOUSAND. 


PROOFS    OF    EVOLUTION 


NELSON^   C.    PARSHALL 


OUTLIJVE    OF    CONTENTS, 


1 .  The  Growth  of  Evolutionary  Thought. 

2.  The  Practical  Benelits  of  the  Evolu- 

tion Theory. 

3.  The   Four   Great  Factors  of   Evolu- 

tion. 

4.  Proofs  from  Geology. 

5.  I'roofs  from  Morphology. 
G.  I'roofs  from  Embryology. 

7.  I'roofs  from  Metamorpnosis. 

8.  Proofs  from  Rudimentary  Organs. 


9.  Proofs  from  Geographical  Distribu- 
tion. 

10.  Proofs  from  Discovered  Links. 

11.  Proofs  from  Artiflcial  Breeding. 

12.  Proofs  from  Reversion. 

13.  Proofs  from  Mimicry. 

14.  Spontaneous  Generation. 

15.  A  Summary  of  Evidence. 

16.  Language  and  the  Moral  Sense. 

17.  Conclusion. 


'  One  of  the  most  systematic,  concise  and  comprehensive  presentations  in  popular 
form  of  the  foundation  and  theory  of  Evolution.  Excellent,  .  .  .  succint,  .  .  .  inter- 
esting."— Public  Opinion. 

One  Volume,  Large  Open  Type,  70  pages.     Price,  Fine  Cloth,  75  cents. 


FIFTH      THOUSAND. 


FACTORS   OF   SOCIAL   REFORM. 

OUTLINE     OF    CONTENTS: 

1.  Moral  Education  and  Personal  Effort  as  Factors  of  Social  Beform.    By 

Francis  E.  Abbot,  Ph.D.,  Author  of  "Scientifle  Theism,"  "The  Way  Out  of 
Agnosticism,"  etc. 

2.  First  Principles  in  Social  Reform.     By  A.  E.  Dolbeak,  M.E.,  Pii.U., 

Professor  of  Physics  and  Astronomy  at  Tufts  College. 

3.  Evolution  of  the  Wanes  Si/stein.     By  Pkof.  George  Guntox,  Author 

of  "Wealth  and  Progress,"  "  Principles  of  Social  Economics,"  "The  Economic 
Heresies  of  Henry  George,"  etc. 

4.  Evolution  and  Social  Reform :   I.  The  Theological  Method,     By  Rev. 

John  W.  Chadwick,  Author  of  "  Evolution  as  Related  to  Religious  Thought," 
"The  Faith  of  Reason,"  "Charles  Robert  Darwin,"  etc. 

5.  Evolution  and  Social  Reform  :  II.  The  Socialistic  Method.    By  William 

Potts,  Author  of  "Evolution  of  Vegetal  Life,"  etc. 

6.  Evolution  and  Social  Reform  :  III.  The  Anarchistic  Method.    By  Hugh 

().  Pentecost,  Editor  of  The  Twentieth  Century. 

7.  Evolution  and  Social  Reform :  IV.  The  Scientific  Metliod.     By  Daniel 

Greenleaf  Thompson,  President  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  Club,  and  Author 
of  "A  System  of  Psychology,"  "The  Problem  of  Evil,"  "The  Religious  Senti- 
ments of  the  Human  Mind,'"'  "Herbert  Spencer,"  etc. 

"  The  ingenious  gentlemen  who  propound  these  Essays  to  the  world  are  but  a  small 
group  of  a  vast  army  of  men  and  women  who  are  debating  the  same  subjects.  They 
are  bringing  into  consideration  matters  of  which  our  fathers  knew  nothing  and  of 
which  earlier  generations  never  dreamed.  They  are  gathering  together  a  vast  mass 
of  argument,  controversy  and  disinitation  upon  problems  which  sprang  up  for 
discussion  only  yesterday.  Yet  so  great  has  become  the  connection  of  these  matters 
with  our  actual  life  and  history,  so  close  is  the  relation  they  bear  to  the  interests  of 
us  all,  that  they  have  pervaded'  all  our  literature  and  public  affairs,  and  there  are 
to-day  no  political  questions  which  are  not  also  social  questions." — Albany  Times. 

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JfljVTES    H.   WEST,  PublisheP, 

196  Summer  Street,  Boston. 


2^-  EACH    NUMBER,   TEN   CENTS.  .=^ 

The  ^odePti  Seienee  Essayist 

Popular  Evolution  Essays  and  Lectures. 

One  of  the  most  systematic,  concise  and  comprehensive  presentations  in  i)opnlar 
form  of  the  foundation  and  theory  of  evolution.  Excellent,  .  .  .  succint,  .  .  .  inter- 
esting.— Public  Opinion. 

Papers  that  are  neither  dull  nor  commonplace. — Boston  Times. 

The  subjects  are  very  fully  discussed,  and  the  seeker  for  information  can  scarcely 
find  the  case  better  stated.— \\>(''  lUdford  Mercury. 

A  collection  of  essays  scholarly  and  instructive. —  Xexc  York  Sun. 

j|@°-  These  Numbers  Now  Ready.  ..^^ 

1.  Herbert  Spencer.      His  life  and  personal  characteristics;  his  views 

on  education ;   his  religious  opinions ;   his  earlier  writings ;  the  relation  of  his 
work  to  Darwinism  and  the  evolution  philosophy. 
By  Daniel  Greexleaf  Tiiomfsox,  author  of  "A  System  of  Psychol- 
ogy," "The  Problem  of  Evil,"  "The  Scientific  Method  in  Social  Reform,"  etc. 

2.  Charles  Robert  Darwhi.      His  ancestry,  life,  and  personal  charac- 

teristics ;  the  voyage  of  the  Beagle ;  discoverv  of  natural  selection ;  the  two 
factors  of  the  Darwinian  theory;  Darwin  and  Wallace;  Louis  Agassiz  and  evolu- 
tion ;  influence  of  Darwin's  studies  on  his  religious  opinions ;  evolution  before 
Darwin  ;  views  of  Goethe  and  Lamarck. 
By  Joiix  W.  CiiAmvicK,  author  of  "The  Bible  of  To-day,"  "The 
Faith  of  Reason,"  "Evolution  as  Related  to  Religious  Thought,"  etc. 

3.  Solar  and  Planetary  Evolution.      How  suns  and  worlds  come  into 

being;   the  nebular  hypothesis  of  Laplace  and  Faye;    Creation  or  Evolution? 
did  tlie  material  unive'rse  ever  have  a  beginning  ? 
By  Gakkett  P.  Sekviss,  author  of  "Astronomy  with  an  Opera  Glass." 

4.  Evolution  of  the  Earth.      The  story  of  geolojry;    how  tlie  world 

grew;  the  order  of  stratification;  the  action  of  fire  and  water;  preimration  of  the 

earth  for  vegetable  and  animal  life. 
By  Dit.  IjEWIS  (t.  J.vxes,  author  of  "A  Study  of  Primitive  Christiani- 
ty," "The  Scope  and  Principles  of  the  Evolution  Philosophy,"  "The  Evolution  of 
Morals,"  etc. 

5.  Evolution  of  Vegetal  Life.      How  does  life  begin  ?  tlie  problem  of 

spontaneous  generation;    morphology  —  the  forms  of  leaves  and  tlowcrs;    the 
geographical  distributinn  of  i)lai)ts;  "methods  of  fertiliziition ;  distinctions  and 
likenesses  between  i)lants  and  animals. 
ByWii.LiAM  I'oTTs,  author  of  "The  Socialistic  Method  in  Social  Reform." 

6.  Evolution  of  Animal  Life.      Tlie  evidences  from  geology,  geograjih- 

ical  distribiUion  and  C(>mi>aiative  zoology;  the  i)roblem  of  special  creation;  the 
laws  of  evolution;  Darwinism  as  modified  by  Romanes;  the  mutability  of 
species;  the  ordei-  of  zoological  evolution. 

By  RossiTEK  W.  Rav.moni),  Pii.I). 

7.  llie  Descent  of  Man.      Relation  of  man  to  tlie  brute  creation;  his 

ancestral  line;   duration  of  human  life  on  the  i)lan('t;   growth  of  mind,  reason, 
and  the  moral  sense;  cousciousufss  as  a  factor  in  human  evolution. 
By  E.  D.  Coi'E,  Ph.D.,  ;iutiior  of  "The  Origin  of  the  Fittest." 

8.  Evolution  of  Mind.      The  mind  and  the  nervous  system;  the  nature 

of  mind;  corresj)ondence  of  life  and  mind  ;  the  growth  of  consciousness;  nature 
and  evolution  of  intelligence ;  instinct,  memory,  reason,  feelings,  will. 
By  ROI5KKT  G.  Ec'CLEs,  M.D.,  author  of  "Tlie   Relativity  of   Knowl- 
edge," etc. 

Iig|r"  CATALOGUE    CONTINUED    ON    NEXT    PAGE.  .,.0 


Modem  Science  Essayist -Catalogue  Continued. 

The  lecturers  in  this  collection  present  the  theory  of  evolution  instructively  and 
attractively. — Boston  Globe. 

There  is  nothing  weak  or  commonplace  in  these  discussions. — Charleston  (S.  C.)  News. 

All  these  papers  are  full  of  thought,  presented  in  clear  language,  and  in  an  admir- 
able spirit. —  lieligio- PJMosophical  Journal. 

9.  Evohition  of  Society.      Primitive  man;  growth  of  the  family,  city 

and  State;  development  of  the  domestic  relations;  marriage;  ceremonial  and 
political  institutions ;  is  society  an  organism  ? 
By  James  A.  Skilton,  author  of  "Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts." 

10.  Evolution  of  Theologij.  Origin  of  religious  beliefs;  ideas  of 
primitive  man ;  animism,  and  ancestor-worship ;  growth  of  nature-worship  and 
idolatry;  polytheism  monotheism  and  pantheism  ;  the  doctrine  of  the  Absolute. 

By  Z.  Sidney  Sampson,  author  of  "Primitive  Man." 

11.  Evolution  of  Morals.  How  altruism  grows  out  of  egoism;  the 
proper  balance ;  characteristics  and  relative  value  of  ethical  systems ;  utilitarian- 
ism, rational  and  empirical;  influence  of  the  evolutionary  theory  of  morals  on 
ethical  sanctions. 

By  Du.  Leavis  G.  Janes,  author  of  "Evolution  of  the  Earth,"  "The 
Scope  and  Principles  of  the  Evolution  Philosophy,"  "A  Study  of  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity," etc. 

12.  Proofs  of  Evolution,  a,  from  geology;  b,  from  morphology;  c, 
from  embryology ;  d,  from  metamorphosis ;  e,  from  rudimentary  organs ;  f ,  from 
geographical  distribution  ;  g,  from  discovered  links ;  h,  from  artificial  breeding; 
1,  from  reversion  ;  k,  from  mimicry. 

By  Nelson  C.  Pakshall. 

1.3.  Evolution  as  Related  to  Religious  Thought.      The  doctrine  of 

the  unknowable;  special  creation  as  related  to  Darwinism;  Spencer's  reconcilia- 
tion of  religion  and  science ;  the  doctrine  of  design  ;  law  and  miracle. 
By  Kev.  John  W.  Ciiadvvick,  autlior  of  "Charles  Kobert  Darwin," 
"The  Faith  of  Reason,"  "The  Bible  of  To-day,"  etc. 

14.  The  Philosophij  of  Evolution.  Relation  of  the  doctrine  to  pre- 
vailing philosophical  systems ;  metaphysics  and  the  scientific  method  ;  material- 
ism arid  the  evolution  philosophy;  realism  and  idealism;  beneficent  rer^ults  of 
the  prevalence  of  materialism  on  human  progress. 

By  Stakh  Hoyt  Nichols,  author  of  "Monte  Rosa,  or  the  Epic  of  an 
Alp,"  etc. 

15.  The  Effects  of  Evolution  on  the  Coming  Civilization,     i^ans 

for  social  regeneration  as  tested  by  evolution;  Communism,  Nationalism,  and 
Socialism ;  probable  influence  of  tlie  evolution  philosophy  in  the  settlement  of 
social  and  economic  problems. 
By  Rev.  Minot  J.  Savage,  author  of  "The  Religion  of  Evolution," 
"The  Morals  of  Evolution,"  etc. 

16.  The    Scope    and   Principles    of    the    Evolution   Philosophy. 

Wallace  on  Darwinism  ;  evolution  a  universal  method  ;  agnosticism  — what  is  it  ? 
the  nature  and  limitations  of  knowledge;  the  relations  of  the  evolution  philoso- 
phy to  materialism  and  idealism;  to  the  doctrines  and  methods  of  the  Christian 
church;  its  relations  to  sociology;  its  attitude  toward  the  practical  problems  of 
social  life. 
By  Dk.  Lewis  G.  Janes,  author  of  "A  Study  of  Primitive  Christiani- 
ty," "  Evolutitm  of  the  Earth,"  etc. 

17.  The  Moral  and  Religious  Aspects  of  Herbert  Spencer'' s  Philos^ 

ophy.    Spencer's  Theory  of  Religion ;  Spencer's  Theory  of  Morality ;  the  Relation 
of  Religion  to  Morality  from  the  Spencerian  point  of  view. 
By  Sylvan  Drey. 

Z^^  CATALOGUE  CONTINUED  ON  NEXT  PAGE.  ,Ml 


Modem  Science  Essayist -Catalogue  Continued. 

A  ghuice  will  sufficiently  indicate  the  admirable  skill  and  thought  tliat  have  been 
brought  to  l)ear  upon  these  subjects. — Jioston  Saturday  Evenimj  Gazette. 

The  lecturers  are  men  of  wide  research,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  topics  of 
wtiich  they  treAt.— Charleston  {S.  C.)  News. 

16.  Tiic  Relatloitif  of  Kno%vled(/e.  The  nature  of  sense-perception; 
bighi,  sound,  taste,  smell,  feeling ;  the  doctrine  of  the  Unknowable ;  the  relative 
nature  of  matter,  motion,  form,  weight,  extension;  the  relativity  of  ethical  and 
sa<;ial  theories ;  the  truth  of  definite  relations ;  the  doctrine  of  relativity  assures 
charity  and  mental  freedom. 
IJy  KOBEUT  G.  EccLES,  M.D.,  author  of  "Evolution  of  Mind." 

19.  A  StMdy  of  Matter  and  Motion.  An  exceUent  digest  of  a  much 
vexed  question,  with  quotations  from  many  authorities,—  I'rof .  Youmans,  Herbert 
Spencer,  Geo.  Henry  Lewes,  Prof.  Helmholtz,  Prof.  Coues,  etc.,  etc. 

IJy  Hon.  A.  N.  Adams. 

We  must  not  allow  any  prejudice  of  thought  on  account  of  the  cry  of  "  materialism." 
-,-  Text.  p.  6. 

20.  Primitive  Man.  Man  as  revealed  by  archaeological  studies;  evi- 
dences of  man's  antiquity;  geological  periods;  man's  appearance  in  the 
pliocene;  palaeolithic  and  neolithic  races;  the  ages  of  bronze  and  iron;  cave- 
men and  lake-dwellers;  dolmen-  and  mound-builders;  primitive  implements 
and  tools  ;  proofs  of  man's  natural  evolution. 

By  Z.  Sidney  Sampson,  author  of  "Evolution  of  Theology." 

31.  Growth  of  the  Marriage  Relation.  Marriage  a  primitive  insti- 
tution; its  earlier  forms;  no  evidence  of  original  i)roniiscuity ;  exogamy  and 
endogamy;  group-marriage;  polygyny,  polyandry  and  monoganiv;  marriage  by 
capture  ;  monogamy  the  highest  form  of  the  relation  ;  divorce  and  divorce-laws ; 
marriage  a  contract;  its  regul.ation  by  the  State. 
By  C.  Stanilani)  Wake,  autlior  of  "  The  development  of  Marriage  and 
Kin.ship,"  "The  Evolution  of  Morality,"  etc. 

22.  Kvolution  of  the  State.  The  growtli  of  political  institutions; 
the  patriarchal  family;  the  tribe  and  clan;  the  ancient  city ;  monarchical  and 
representative  governments ;  constitutions  —  written  and  unwritten  ;  the  Amer- 
ican Uepublic  —  its  success  and  its  dangers;  evils  of  municipal  government; 
what  final  form  will  the  State  assume  ? 
By  John  A.  Tavi.ok. 

2.'J.    Kvolution  of  Law.      IIovv  law  begins;  statute  law  and  judge-made 

law;  the  conversion  of  customs  into  law;  religious  sanctions;  legal  fictions; 
the  development  of  equity  juris])rudence ;  the  common  law;  legislation;  the 
cddification  of  laws;  laws  for  the  collection  of  debts;  personal  rights  under 
the  law. 

IJy  I'ltoK.  IvUKU.s  Sheldon. 

21.  Kvolution  of  Mrdiml  Science.  Supernatural  ideas  of  disease; 
fetishism  in  int'dicine  ;  the  beginnings  of  medical  science  ;  I'ythagoras  ami  Hij)- 
jiDc.rates.Celsus  aiwKialen  ;  Christianity  and  medical  science";  the  .Mohammedan 
iiiMu(Mi<^e;  lioiiieopatliy  and  alloi)athy;  foods  and  ])oisons;  the  develo])inent  of 
Mirj^ery,  anatomy,  physiology,  ('henustry  and  i)harma<'y;  bacteriology;  the 
tifowth  of  sanitary  science. 

By  KoiJT.  (;.  E<-ci,i;s,  M.I).,  author  of  "Tlie  Evolution  of  Mind,"  "The 
lU'lativity  of  Knowledge,"  etc. 

2.'"».  Kvolution  of  Arms  (Did  Ainiior.  'Y\w  m-cessity  for  anus  and 
arniiir  under  the  Strug;; Ic  f(irc.\i>t.('nce  ;  Nature's  two  methods  —  anions::  aiiiinuls, 
l)lants,  men,  nations  ;  how  arms  and  armor  have  led  to  the  industrial  arts ;  to  a 
lii^litT  inanliood  ;  to  r()-(>i)('rativc  elVort;  to  iii<livi(lualisiii  ;  tli(>  wcajioiis  of 
tlioiitilit;  our  National  policy  a.s  rct;ar<ls  defenses;  the  two  methods  in  religion, 
morals,  law.  social  safety  ;  oii  this  rude  stalk  the  tlower  at  lust  of  universal  peace. 
By  John  C  Kimisaij.. 

Ejy"  CATALOGUE  CONTINUED  ON  NEXT  PAGE.  ,,,^ 


Modem  Science  Essayist --Catalogue  Continued. 

The  lectures  are  entertaining  and  instructive. —  Albany  Argus. 


26.  Evolution  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  Development  of  the  lmm;m 
hand;  the  earliest  use  of  implements  and  tools ;  man's  mechanical  striMituroaiwl 
adaptation  for  work;  the  psychology  of  the  mechanic  arts;  the  relation  tti 
mechanics  to  mental  evolution  ;  the  genesis  of  invention  ;  patents  anil  i);i.tent- 
laws;  inventions  in  agriculture  and  manufactures;  have  they  benefiti'tl  the 
laboring  classes  ? 

By  James  A.  Skilton,  author  of  "The  Evolution  of  Society." 

27.  Evolution  of  the  Wages  System.  The  definition  of  wages; 
economic  characteristics  of  the  wages  system ;  wages  the  outgrovrth  ol  slavery  ; 
origin  and  development  of  the  wages  system;  its  relation  to  material  injpiove-' 
ment,  social  freedom,  and  a  progressive  civilization  ;  to  the  welfare  and  progn^w 
of  the  laboring  classes ;  the  factory  system ;  importance  of  stipulated  inronies ; 
the  wages  system  compared  with  Nationalism  and  Socialism;  its  relation  to 
social  reform. 

By  Prof.  Geokge  Gunton,  author  of  "Wealth  and  Progress,"  "Prin- 
ciples of  Social  Economics,"  "Economic  Heresies  of  Henry  George,"  etc. 

28.  Education  as  a  Factor  in  Ciinlization.  The  beginnings  of  edu- 
cation; early  methods  in  Egypt,  Persia, China,  Greece  and  Rome;  eariy  <;iu-if- 
tian  ideas  of  education;  Catholic  and  Protestant  views:  the  common -school 
system;  inlluence  of  Comenius,  Pestalozzi  and  Froebe! ;  the  kindergarten; 
manual  training;  education  and  crime ;  the  university  ;  classical  and  scientific 
studies ;  the  higher  education  of  women ;  co-education ;  the  future  of  our 
educational  system. 

By  Miss  Caroline  B.  Le  Row. 

29.  Evolution  and  Social  Eeform:    I.  The  Theological  Method. 

Religion  the  formative  principle  of  social  growth ;  its  relation  to  Socialism ; 
theological  morality;  influence  of  Christianity  on  social  development;  New  Ties- 
tament  ideas  of  marriage  and  wealth ;  early  Christian  Socialism  ;  monasticjs'ni ; 
influence  of  the  Jews  and  Mohammedans  ;  the  church  and  industrialism  ;  usiiry 
or  interest;  the  church  and  slavery ;  alms-giving  and  pauperism;  the  eiVect  of 
preaching  on  character;  repentance,  conversion  and  atonement;  the  religious 
method  the  method  of  jjcrsonal  character. 
By  Rev.  John  W.  Ciiadwick.  author  of  "Evolution  as  Related  to  Relig- 
ious Tliought,"  "  Charles  Robert  Darwin,"  etc. 

30.  Evolution  and  Social  Reform :    II.  The  Socialistic  Method. 

Communism,  Socialism  and  Nationalism  ;  the  methods  defined ;  origin  of  iiw'vr 
modern  phases ;  tendencies  of  Socialism  to  militantism ;  State-Socialism  ;  tlie 
doctrine  of  equality  of  earnings;  equality  rs.  liberty  ;  Mr.  Bellamy's  theory  crit- 
icized; Henry  (Jeorge  and  the  "single-tax"  ;  the  injustice  of  land-confiscation; 
relation  of  laiid- values  to  the  value  of  improvements  ;  socialistic  schemes  artificial, 
not  organic;  profit-sharing  and  voluntary  co-operation;  opportunism. 
By  WiLi-iAM  Potts,  author  of  "Evolution  of  Vegetal  Life." 

31.  Evolution  and  Social  Reform :    III.  The  Anarchistic  MetliOil. 

Anarchy  regarded  as  a  science  ;  its  opposition  to  government  by  physical  lorcf; 
its  methods  not  revolutionarj'  but  evolutionary ;  anarchism  in  social  custnni^' ; 
its  economic  i)rinciples;  involuntary  poverty,  its  caiises  and  cure;  injtisti«>'  fif 
rent,  interest  and  i)rofits  ;  social  i)arasites  ;  anarchism  and  the  ballot;  its  ii»<>tbf>d 
that  of  education  and  peaceful  propagandism ;  its  ideal  that  of  mutualinm 
between  free  individuals. 
By  Hugh  O.  Pentecost,  editor  of  The  Ticentieth  Century. 

32.  Evolution  and  Social  Reform  :    IV.  The  Scientific  Method. 

The  scientific  method  based  on  the  uniformity  of  Nature  ;  the  polarity  of  Individ- 
ualism and  Socialism;  the  psychological  argument ;  necessity  for  govern n it  iifcil 
limitation  ;  the  scientific  method  as  distinguished  from  the  theological,  tbe  ^iicial- 
istie  and  the  anarchistic;  it  advocates  the  golden  mean;  it  cultivates  individual 
independence  ;  its  relation  to  education  and  ethical  cidture. 
By  Daniel  Gkeenleaf  Thompson,  author  of  "A  System  of  Psychol- 
ogy," "The  Problem  of  Evil,"  "Herbert  Spencer,"  etc. 

IIE^  CATALOGUE  CONTINUED  ON  NEXT  PAGE.  .^O 


Modern  Science  Essayist -Catalogue  Continued. 

"  No  one  who  wishes  to  consider  tlie  i)hil()soi(hy  of  evolution  can  well  afford  to  l)e 
without  this  series  of  pai)ers." —  ChrMUui  Jteifistcr. 

.33.  Asa  Gray :  Jfis  Life  and  Work.  His  birth  and  youth;  his  in- 
debtedness to  Amos  Eaton;  his  relations  with  Dr.  Jolm  Torrey ;  his  works  on 
Itotany;  the  "North  American  Flora";  his  contributions  to'tlie  dot^trine  of 
Evolution;  his  corresi)ondence  with  Darwin;  his  nersonal  chara(;teristics ;  his 
genius  recogniztnl  by  other  botanists;  his  great  industry ;  his  unobtrusive  mod- 
esty ;  causes  of  his  unfinished  work. 
IJy  Miis.  Maky  Theat,  author  of  "Home  Studies  in  Nature,"  "My 
Garden  Pets,"  "  Through  a  Microscope,"  etc. 

{VX.    Fjdward  Livingston  Youmans :    The  Man  and  His  Work. 

1 1  is  birth  and  ancestry;  his  education  ;  his  early  interest  in  natural  science  ;  his 
lilindness;  his  interest  in  reforms  ;  his  contributions  to  chemistry  ;  his  career  as 
a  scientific  lecturer;  his  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  ;  liis  introduction 
of  Herl)ertSi>encer  to  America;  his estiiblishment of  the  "  International  Scientific 
Series"  and  the  I'opiilar  Science  Mont  hit/,  liis  visits  to  England;  his  broad, 
democratic  spirit  and  unselfish  perscmal  character. 
IJy  I'ltOF.  John  Fiske,  author  of  "Cosmic  Philosophy,"  etc. 

Si:;^  EACH    NUMBER,    TEN    CENTS.  .=^ 

(l2^  Also,  the  First  Fifteen  Essays  above  outlined,  in  One  Vol- 
ume, "EvoLiTTiox,"  fine  cloth,  408  pages,  I/lustrated,  with 
Complete  Index,  f!2.00,  postpaid. 

(I3'''  Also,  the  Essays  from  IG  to  34  inclusive  (excei)t  17 
and  19,  which  were  special  issues)  reprinted  in  One  Volume, 
.''Sociology,"  uniform  with  "Evolution,"  line  cloth,  408  pages, 
wjtli  Complete  Index,  S!2.00,  jmstpaid. 

*,»  S<'iit  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price,  bv  James  H.  Wkst,  Publisher,  Boston. 


The  Way  out  of  Agnosticism 


Or,  The   Philosophy  of   Free   lleligion.      By   Fkancis   ELLix(iwooi) 

AititOT,  Ph.D.  Ciotli,  $1.00. 
This  little  book,  giving  the  substance  of  a  course  of  lectures  in  Harvard  I'niversity 
ii)  1fi8H,  is  a  short,  terse,  and  compact  argument,  drawn  solely  from  science  and  i)hilos- 
ophy,  to  prove  that  the  essential  constitution  of  the  Universe  is  iiositively  knowable 
and  known  as  at  once  an  infinite  Machine,  an  infinite  Organism,  and  an  infinite  Person  ; 
and  that  this  Scientific  WOKLU-(Jo^■cEl•TIO^"  is  the  necessary  foundation  of  Scien- 
TM'IC  ICthics. 

Ktldcal  Reliijion. 

A  volume  of  lectures  S'ven,  for  the  most  ])art,  l)cfore  the  Society  for 

Ktliical  Cultvirc,  Cliica<;o.  By  Wm.  ,M.  Saltki;.  ^1.50. 
There  is  here,  in  glowing,  suji^estive  epitome,  the  essence  of  true  human  being  and 
doing.—  The  New  Ideal.  Another  ])roof  that  ideas  as  well  as  dollars  are  current  in 
A\nbT\c:x.—  Cermnn  /leriew.  The  chai)ter  on  Darwinism  in  Ethics  is  a  particularly 
able  dii-.cussion  of  that  tojvic,  and  it  is  filled  with  high  and  noble  conceptions  of  man's 
responsibility  to  the  law  whicli  says,  Thou  shalt  do  riglit  or  perish.— 7 /le  Jieacon. 

'  %*  Any  of  the  ahove  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  price.     Address, 

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1890  — Third  Year.     Monthly,  $2.00  a  year;  Six  Months,  SIOO. 
"Our  part  is  to  conspire  with  the  new  works  of  new  days." — Emerson. 

THE 

NBW     IDKAL. 

A  Magazine  of  Progress.  Conducted  by 

JAMES  H.    WEST. 


SOME    OF    THE    NOTABLE    WRITERS 

From  Whom  Articles  hate  Already  Appeared  in  "  The  JVeio  Ideal.'''' 


O.  B.  Frothingham, 
Edwin  D.  Mead, 

William  Lloyd  Garrison, 
William  M.  Salter, 

Hon.  George  F.  Talbot, 
Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson, 
Joseph  Dana  Miller, 

Prof.  A.  E.  Dolbear.  Ph.D., 
Rev.  W.  G.  Todd, 
Hon.  A.  X.  Adams, 
Eev.  X.  P.  Gilman, 
Dr.  Pvobt.  G.  Eccles, 
Prof.  John  Fiske, 

Rev.  John  C.  Kimball. 
Mrs.  Ellen  B.Dietrick, 
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Mrs.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer, 
Percival  Chubb, 

Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones, 
George  H.  Hadlev. 
Capt.  Robt.  C.  Adams, 
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Edward  Bellamy, 

Rev.  W.  D.  P.  Bliss, 
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Minot  J.  Savage, 

Dr.  Lewis  G.  Janes, 
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William  G.  Babcock, 
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Mrs.  Ednah  D.  Cheney, 
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George  W.  Buckley, 
Rev.  Perry  Marshall, 
Elissa  M.  Moore, 

Lillie  B.  Chace  Wyman, 
Rev.  H.  H.  Brown, 
John  T.  Hawkins, 
C.  A.  Lane, 

Simeon  Carter, 

Mrs.  Mary  Gunning. 


The  Xew  Ideal  fills  a  strong,  distinct  need  of  the  present  day  in  the  periodical  line. 
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gospel  of  Evolution,  and  it  has  enlisted  as  writers  some  of  the  most  prominent  disciples 
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JAMES    H.  WEST,  Publisher, 

1!H)  Summer  Street,  Boston'. 


$2.00  a  year ;  20  cents  a  number.    1890— Third  Year. 

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Times. 

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views  upon  living  questions." — Lewiston  Journal. 

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—  Sew  Bed/ord  Standard. 

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trains  of  thought." — St.  John  (ilohe. 

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of  the  Westminster  Confession  to  downright  radicals  —  will  take  delight  in  The  New 
Ideal,— devoted  to  rational  religion,  not  in  a  blatant,  dogmatic  way,  but  reverent'.y 
and  thoughtfully.    I'articularly  well-written  articles." — Jiuffalo  Erjiress:. 

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vitality." —  O/iiiiion-Oullook. 

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out  by  the  nature  of  its  contents.  .  .  .  An  able  list  of  writers." — Hoston  Covunon- 
ivealth. 

"The  New  Ideal  is  bold,  outsijoken  and  earnest.  It  holds  a  religious  ])oint  of 
view  very  dilfercnt  from  our  own,  but  we  commend  the  apparent  honesty  of  its 
search  alter  truth." — Cou'jn ijati<inaH.-<t. 

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readers." — Literary  World. 

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azine."—  Brooklyn  Standaril-  I'liion. 

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JAMES    H.  WEST,  Publisher, 

19G  Summer  Street,  ]^o.ston. 


Monthly,  $2.00  pep  year.         Single  Number,  20  cents. 

THH  flEW  lDEflLi-1890 

MARCH  (Principal  Contents). 

GENERAL,  CONTRIBUTIONS  — 

The  Nobility  of  Man, E.  P.  POWELL  103 

Socialism,  Love,  and  Sympathy, LAURENCE  GRONLUND  106 

Idealward  (Poem), HORACE  L.  TRAUBEL  111 

Optimism  and  Ethics, F.  M.  HOLLAND  111 

The  Workingman's  "  Wasted  Leisure," MRS.  MARY  GUNNING  114 

Quid  Ergo  (Poem), C.  A.  LANE  116 

Character  and  Love, REV.  A.  W.  MARTIN  116 

BeUamy's  Critic  Criticized,  II., REV.  W.  G.  TODD  120 

Cypress-Crowned  (Poem), JAMES  H.  WEST  123 

Our  Present  Mode  of  City  Government, JOHN  A.  TAYLOR  123 

Fatalistic  Science  and  Human  SeLf-Determination,  IV., 

DR.  EDMUND  MONTGO>IERY  127 

The  Racer  (Poem), MRS.  ELISSA  M.  MOORE  135 

Progress  in  Catholic  Thought, THOMAS  B.  PRESTON  136 

Rationalism  and  Orthodoxy, 101 

APRIL,  (Principal  Contents). 

GENERAL  CONTRIBUTIONS  — 

There  are  Two  Sides  that  are  One, REV.  H.  H.  BROWN  141 

Truth  Full  Rounded, WM.  J.  POTTER  145 

Profit-Sharing, B.  F.  UNDERWOOD  150 

Appreciation  (Poem), REV.  W.  G.  TODD  152 

Our  Hope  of  Immortality, MRS.  HELEN  N.  PACKARD  152 

Primitive  Man, Z.  SIDNEY  SAMPSON  156 

Leaving  the  Old  Farm  (Poem), NELLY  BOOTH  SIMMONS  160 

Paracelsus,  F.  M.  HOLLAND  162 

The  Modem  Way  of  "  Getting  There," GEO.  H.  HADLEY  164 

The  Dogma  of  Infallibility,  REV.  GEO.  W.  BUCKLEY  168 

Evolution  (Poem), HORACE  L.  TRAUBEL  175 

Ethics  and  Woman, WM.  M.  SALTER  176 

Matter  and  Motion, HON.  A.  N.  ADAMS  177 

Competition  and  Co-operation, B.  F.  UNDERWOOD  180 

The  Labor  Question  :  Is  it  Moral  or  Economic  ? F.  HARDIER  181 

MAY    (Principal  Contents). 

GENERAL  CONTRIBUTIONS  — 

The  Man  Jesus  [A  Posthumous  Discourse],. .  .PROF.  W.  D.  GUNNING  189 
Darwin,  the  John  the  Baptist  of  a  New  Gospel, 

HON.  GEO.  F.  TALBOT  199 

Agitation  no  Cause  for  Alarm, MRS.  SARA  A.  UNDERWOOD  203 

The  Man  in  the  SUte, JOHN  A.  TAYLOR  207 

Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Land  Question, WALTER  F.  WELLS  210 

Gladstone  and  our  Statesmen, F.  M.  HOLLAND  212 

Insincerity  in  Religion, CHARLES  K.  WHIPPLE  218 

The  Basic  Reason  for  Social  Reform, .  .LAURENCE  GRONLUND,  M.A.  221 
Fatalistic  Science  and  Human  Self -Determination,  V., 

DR.  EDMUND  MONTGOMERY  223 

Unitarlanism  and  Science, 231 

A  Wood-Chopper  on  the  Social  Question, 231 


Monthly,  $2.00  per  year.  Single  Number,  20  cents. 

THE   HEW  lDEAli-1890. 

JULY— AUGUST  (Principal  Contents). 

GENERAL  CONTRIBUTIONS  — 

Moral  Education  and  Personal  Effort  as  Factors  of  Social  Reform, 

FRANCIS  E.  ABBOT,  Ph.D.  288 
Arnold  Toynbee ;  or  Personal  Influence  in  Social  Reform, 

PERCIVAL  CHUBB  299 

Methods  of  Personal  Alleviation,.. MRS.  LAURA  ORMISTON  CHANT  303 

Social  Progress  through  Organized  Effort,..  .JENKIN  LLOYD  JONES  311 

The  Necessity  for  the  Increase  of  Opportunity, F.  A.  HINCKLEY  317 

The  Present  Aspect  of  Affairs  in  Japan,.  .REV.  AVM.  E.  GRIFFIS,  D.D.  322 

The  Need  of  Industrial  Education  in  India,  KESHAV  MALHAR  BHAT  a32 

The  Education  of  "Women  in  Ceylon, MRS.  SUSAN  A.  ENGLISH,  337 

Liberal  Religious  Thought  in  the  East, G.  H.  PAPAZI AN  &13 

The  Opening  up  of  Africa, ARCHIBALD  H.  GRIMKE  349 

Progressive  Thought  in  Constantinople, EDWIN  D.  MEAD  378 

Ethics  and  Industrial  Reform WM.  M.  SALTER  367 

Law,  Physical  and  :Moral, DR.  LEWIS  G.  JANES  370 

Addresses, PRESIDENT  WM.  J.  POTTER    283,  320 

Science  in  the  I'ulpit, 375 


SEPTEMBER  (Principal  Contents). 

GENERAL  CONTRIBUTIONS  — 

First  Principles  in  Social  Reform, PROF.  A.  E.  DOLBEAR,  I'li.D.  379 

About  Certain  of  the  Damned, E.  1'.  I'O WELL  382 

Anarchism, HUGH  O.  PENTECOST  384 

The  Test :  or.  Natural  and  Divine  Love  (Poem), S.  CARTER  391 

A  Criticism  of  Dr.  Dowden's  Estimate  of  "Prometheus  Unbound," 

A.  M.  GANNETT  392 
Tlie  Scientific  Method  in  Social  Reform, 

DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON  391 

Zetetia  (Poem), .- C.  A.  LANE  401 

The  Bralimin  Caste  of  New  England, CHARLES  K.  WHIPPLE  401 

"  Voluntary  Co-operation," WALTER  F.  WELLS  407 

Is  a  Personal  Equation  I'ossible  ? EDGAR  F.  WHEELOCK  409 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, JOSEPH  DANA  MILLER  412 

OCTOBER  (Principal  Contents). 

GENERAL   CONTRimTIONS  — 

Tariff  Lessons  from  Australia, F.  M.  HOLLAND  427 

Edward  LivingstcmVoumans:  HisEarly  Career,.  .PROF.  JOHN  FISKF  431 

Facts  and  Probabilities  in  Regard  to  Jesus,.  .CHARLES  K.  WHIPPLE  438 
l"()litics,  Education,  and  Social  Reform, 

DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON  441 
On  Reading  Matthew  Arnold's  Essav  on  Heine  (Poem), 

H.  A.  WARREN  44«i 

AVages  and  Tariffs  :  A  Rei)ly  to  Mr.  F.  .M.  Holland, . . .  .J.  T.  HAWKINS  447 

Rejoinder  by  Mr.  Holland, F.  M.  II.  454 

Was  Je.sus  an  Ethical  Religionist? REV.  PERRY  MARSHALL  428 

The  Evolution  of  Liberty, REV.  H.  H.  BROWN  4(>2 

Obligati<m  and  the  Sense  of  Obligation, WILLIA.M   M.  SALTER  472 

The  Kreutzer  Sonata  and  the  Others, 470 


A    BOOK   FOB    TRUTH-LOVERS. 


A  Study  of  Primitive  Christianity 


BY    LEWIS    G.  JANES. 


Iteriscd  JCditiott.     319 pp.  Svo.     Cloth,  I'ricv,  $1,30, 

Treats  of  the  natural  evolution  of  the  Christian  Religion,  ac- 
cording to  the  historical  method  ;  applying  the  assured  results  of 
modern  criticism  to  the  question  of  the  historical  verity  of  Jesus, 
the  investigation  of  his  life  and  teaching,  and  the  development  of 
organized  Chiistianity. 

"Free  and  scliolarly  criticism  of  the  origin  of  Christianity." — 
Boston  Comnwnifealth. 

"The  result  of  diligent  research  in  historical  authorities,  and 
careful,  logical  thought  in  an  endeavor  to  arrive  at  fundamental 
truths." — Brentano's  Book  Chat. 

"A  cool,  quiet,  painstaking  and  fearless  examination  of  the  re- 
ligious belief  of  Christians."' — Sidney  8.  Eider's  Book  Notes. 


COXTEXTS: 

Preface,  by  Rev.  J.  V>'.  Chad-wick.    Author's  Preface  to  Second  Edition. 

Introduction.  I. —  I'alestine  in  the  Koman  Period.  II. —  Society  and  Keligion 
in  tlie  Roman  Enii>ire.  III.— Sources  of  Information.  IV. — Theological 
Aspects  of  the  Religion  of  Jesus.  "V. —  Social  Aspects  of  the  Religion  of  Jesus. 
YI.— Myth  and  Miracle  in  the  Gospel  Stories.  YII. —  The  Christianity  of  Paul. 
VIII.— The  Apostolic  Age.  IX.— The  Martyr  Periixl.  X.— Christianity  the 
State  Religion. 

^^^^  C'otuplcte  lie/'e fences,  Hihliograjt/ij/  and  Index. 

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The  Xkw  Ideal  Company, 

Boston,  Mass. 

THE  WORK  OF  A  TRUE  CHURCH. 

AN    ESSAY 

Devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the  Xeeds  of  Mankind  in 
tlie  modern  world. 

By  JAMES    H.  AVE  ST, 

Editor  of  T/ic  Xcw  Iilrnl.  Author  of  "The  Complete  Life,"  "UpUfts  of  Heart 
and  Will,"  "Voices  of  Youth,"  etc.,  etc. 

Pamphlet.     Single  copy.  6  cents.     Five  copies,  15  cents. 

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uplifts  of  Heart  and  Will. 

By   JAMES    H.   WEST. 

A  Series  of  Thirty-Seven  Keligious  Meditations,  or  Aspirations, 

Fitted  for  Private  or  Public  Keligious  Uplooking. 

Addressed  to  Earnest  Men  and  Women. 


"  It  takes  a  soul  to  move  a  body. 
Life  develops  from  within." 


PRESS    CRITICISMS. 

"On  purely  rational  grounds  it  is  not  easy  to  meet  the  position  [of 
this  little  book],  except  by  saying  that  the  words  and  forms  of  our 
[usual]  devotion  must  be  accepted  a,sfrankl]/  symbolic,  and  not  amenable 
to  the  understanding.  *  *  *  It  is  good  to  welcome  a  religious  science 
better  than  the  old  hard  bigotry.  Still,  while  we  by  no  means  accept 
these  'Uplifts'  as  a  necessary  or  an  adequate  substitute  for  the  cus- 
tomary exercises  of  devotion,  they  are  at  least  better  fitted  than  the 
ordinary  practice  to  a  state  of  mind  far  from  uncommon,  and  greatly 
deserving  of  respect." — From  a  seven-page  notice  in  the  Unitarian 
Beview. 

"A  man  of  gifts  and  graces  making  an  effort  to  get  out  of  the  old 
and  worn-out  way  of  petitioning  for  special  things  to  a  deity  supposed 
to  deal  in  special  providences.  Heartfelt  and  choicely  worded,  the  book 
is  the  reaching  out  for  more  life  and  light  of  an  earnest  man." — lieligio- 
Philosophical  Journal. 

"The  outpourings  of  a  soul  deeply  religious  in  the  best  sense,  but 
suspicious  of  forms.  Truly  beautiful  invocations.  The  volume  con- 
tains the  strongest  possible  testimony  to  the  indestructibility  of  the 
religious  sentiment.  Tlie  poems  at  the  end  are  also  fvill  to  ovcrilowing 
with  noble  feeling.  This  volume  is  one  of  the  many  assurances  that  the 
liberal  church  will  fast  enough  gather  poetry,  music  and  art,  to  invest 
its  nobler  thought." — New  Theology  Herald. 

PERSONAL    EXPRESSIONS. 

An  aged  man,  a  physician, — of  whom  we  know  nothing  except  that 
he  ordered  a  copy  of  the  book, —  writes:  "I  have  read  Avith  delight 
the  little  book,  'Uplifts  of  Heart  and  Will.'  I  am  now  nearly  G2  years 
of  age,  and  have  lived  a  lonely  life  as  regards  the  satisfying  of  my  lib- 
eral religious  aspirations.  Your  little  book  fills  a  void  in  my  soul's 
loneliness  which  I  have  suffered  for  more  than  forty  years." 

A  Boston  lady  writes:  "  Tliey  are  very  encouraging  —  just  what  I  need. 
Many  hours  of  earnest  thought  and  conscientious  work  must  liave  gone 
to  their  writing.  It  is  good  to  have  peace  and  truth  in  the  heart  !  We 
must  hold  to  that!  I  look  into  the  book  often,  and  I  hope  it  will  do  good 
to  many." 

From  a  Unitarian  minister:  "I  hail  the  'Uplifts'  as  a  good  sign, — 
another  step  out  into  the  free,  where  we  must  be  content  to  let  all  con- 
secrated thinking  po." 

From  a  liberal  tliinker:  "I  am  well  pleased  with  the  'Ui)lifts,'  and 
especially  because  they  come  near  to  my  own  spirit's  workings,  when  I 
have  felt  as  if  I  stood  alone." 

Price  of  the  above  Book,  neatly  bound  in  Cloth,  50  Cents. 

%*  For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  may  be  ordered  of  The  New  Ideai.. 


THE   COMPLETE   LIFE. 

Six   Discouirses, 

FROM   THE    STANDPOINT   OF   MODERN   THOUGHT. 
By  JAMES  H.  WEST, 

AUTHOB  OF  "UPLIFTS  OF  HEAKT  AND  -WILL,"  "VOICES  OF  YOUTH,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


"This  world — it  means  intensely,  and  means  good; 
To  find  its  m,eaning  is  my  Tneat  and  drink." 


[From  The  Chicago  Evening  Journal.] 
"Would  that  all  pulpits  rang  with  words  as  brave  and  true  as  we  find  in  the  pub- 
lished sermon-lectures  of  James  H.  West,  brought  out  in  book  form  with  the  title 
♦The  Complete  Life.'  Every  word  the  author  indites  is  golden,  and  should  he  read  by 
young  and  old.  Such  books  are  genuine  uplifts  of  heart  and  mind,  and  when  we  get 
to  heaven,  if  we  ever  do,  through  earth's  sordid  dust  and  mire,  we  shall  have  men  like 
James  H.  West  to  thank  for  finding  our  way  there." 

[From  The  Christian  Register.'] 
"  In  all  these  discourses  Mr.  West  shows  a  sympathy  with  Ts"ature,  a  poetic  and 
a  spiritual  sense  of  the  divine  forces  that  are  working  in  Nature  and  in  man.  The 
moral  tone  is  always  earnest,  and  the  moral  ideal  is  high.  They  are  sermons  which 
bear  on  right  thought  and  right  living.  The  author  finds  in  the  natural  the  synonym 
of  the  divine.    He  finds  a  moral  purpose  budding  and  blooming  in  the  nature  of  man." 

Fine  Cloth,  Gilt  Stamp,       -       60  Cents. 

VARIOUS  MATTERS  BY  MR.  WEST. 

VOICES  OF  YOUTH:  "Holiday  Idlesse,  and  other  Poems."  New 
Ked-Line  Edition.  Illustrated.  Printed  on  heavy  paper,  with  extra 
wide  margins.  Handsomely  bound  in  appropriately  pictured  covers 
illustrating  the  title-poem.  Large  square  12mo,  252 pages.  Price,  post- 
paid, $1.00. 

"Mr.  West  has  undoubted  poetic  conceptions  and  sympathies.  In  much  of  his 
Terse  he  shows  himself  to  be  a  genuine  interpreter.  His  expression  is  often  a  fine 
instrument ;  melodious,  imaginative,  and  vital.  Even  where  one  notes  an  imperfec- 
tion of  form,  a  fine  thought  or  a  beautiful  fancy  redeems  the  fault." — Christian 
Union. 

"His  poems  rank  easily  in  the  higher  grade  of  those  published  in  these  days." 

—  Congregationalist. 

HYMNS  LOOKING  ONWARD,  INWARD,  UPWARD.  "Valuable as 
a  collection  of  untheological  religious  verse,  even  when  not  intended 
to  be  sung."  Single  copies,  postpaid,  10  cents.  More  than  ten  copies, 
5  cents  each. 

"A  pamphlet  of  Forty-Two  Hymns,  collected  and  arranged  by  James  H.  West. 
Older  collections  of  church  hymns  furnishing  little  that  he  could  use  consistently 
with  modern  rational  religious  thought,  this  thin  pamphlet  was  printed  for  temporary 
use,  to  serve  until  something  larger  and  better  should  be  demanded  by  a  growing  con- 
sistency on  the  part  of  liberals  as  a  whole.  These  hymns  are  of  human  hojie  and 
humanendeavor,  and  are  valuable  as  a  collection  of  untheological  religious  verse,  even 
when  not  intended  to  be  sung." — Index. 

KALLIGO:    A  POEM.     A  forty-page  Brochure,  bound  in  illuminated 
cards,  with  two  Illustrations  and  Proem.     A  Tale  of  the  Florida  Ever- 
glades.    Red-Lined.     Price,  postpaid,  25  cents. 
"Excellent  verse,  of  a  verv  genuine  sort,— full  of  suggestiveness,  aspiration,  and 

the  glow  of  true  feeling.    *  '*    Unusually  clear  in  outline  and  strong  in  expression." 

—  christian  Utiion. 

"  The  poems  of  Mr.  West  are  more  than  entertaining,  they  are  helpful.  His  grasp 
upon  familiar  objects,  and  a  faculty  of  voicing  poetic  thought  concerning  them,  give 
a  real  pleasure." — Advocate. 


JAMES  H.  WEST,  Publishetr,  Boston. 

The   Moral   and   Religious   Aspects   of    Herbert   Spencer's   Phi- 
losophy.    By  Sylvan  Dkey.     Pamphlet,  10  cents. 
"  An  al)le  ijojmlar  interpreter  of  the  evolution  philosopliy." 

Scientific  Theism.  By  Francis  E.  Abbott,  Ph.D.  Cloth,  242 
pages,  .$2.00. 

"Dr.  F.  E.  Abbot's  new  book,  '  i^cientific  Thei.sni,'  confirms  the  opinion  of 
the  few  i>est  able  to  judfre,  that  lie  is  the  ablest  i)hilosophical  thinker  in 
America,  and  that  his  work  seems  to  be  tlie  foundation  of  that  deeper  relifrion 
of  the  future,  sure  to  come,  which  will  satisfy  both  the  head  and  the  heart  ol 
man." — Mr.  E.  li.  Haskell,  in  Boston  Sunday  Jlcrahi. 

The  Philosophy  of  Free  Religion.     By  Francis  E.  Abbot,  Ph.D. 

A  series  of  Nine  Papers  printed  in  The  Xew  Ideal.  The  series  mailed, 
postpaid,  for  .?1.00. 

The  Evolution  of  Immortality.  Suggestions  of  an  Individual  Im- 
mortality, based  upon  our  Organic  and  Life  History.  By  C.  T. 
Stockwell.    Cloth,  12mo,  gilt  top,  uncut  edges,  69  pages,  $1.00. 

"One  of  the  most  supfrestive  and  best  developed  essays  on  personal  immortal- 
ity which  later  years  have  \)Trni\\ce<\.."  —  Lite rarij  World. 

Science  and  Immortality.     Cloth,  75  cents  ;  paper,  50  cents. 

A  "Symposium,"  pivinfi;  the  opinion  of  many  of  the  most  prominent  scien- 
tific men  in  this  country,  concerning;  the  relation  of  science  to  the  question  of 
immortality.  Concise,  candid,  the  earnest  thought  of  the  foremost  thinkers 
of  the  day  ("whether  of  exi)ectation  or  of  doubt. 

The  Morals  of  Evolution.  By  M.  J.  Savage.  191  pages,  $1.00. 
Treats  such  topics  as  The  Orifrin  of  Goodness,  The  Nature  of  (ioodness.  The 
Sense  of  Obligation,  The  Uelativilyof  Duty,  Morality  and  Heligion  in  the  Fut- 
ure, etc,  etc.  "  We  all  owe  Mr.  Savage  thanks  for  the  earnestness,  frankness, 
and  ability  with  which  he  has  here  illustrated  the  modern  scientific  methods 
of  dealing  with  history,  philosophy,  and  morality."  "The  book  is  a  fund  of 
intellectual  and  morarchcer." 

Evolution :  A  Summary  of  Evidence.  By  Capt.  Bobt.  C.  Apams, 
Author  of  "Travels  in  Faith  from  Tradition  to  Beason.'" 
Pamphlet,  44  pages,  25  cents. 

"An  admirable  jirescntation  and  summing  uj)  of  the  Evolution  Argument." 

A  Study  of  Primitive  Christianity.  By  Lewis  C.  .Janes.  ;]I9 
pages,  $1.50. 

Treats  of  the  natural  evolution  of  the  Christian  Religion,  according  to  the 
historical  method,  aiii>lying  the  assure<l  results  of  modern  criticism  to  the 
(piestion  of  the  historical  verity  of  .lesus,  the  investigation  of  his  life  and 
teaching,  and  the  devcloi)nient  ui  organized  Christianity. 

Uplifts  of  Heart  and  Will.  A  Series  of  Religions  Meditations,  or 
Aspirations.  Addressed  to  fiirnest  Men  and  Wounn.  Bv.Ia.mes 
II.  West.  Clotli,  square  ISmo.,  heveled  edges.  Price,  jiost- 
paid,  50  cents.     (In  paper  covers,  ;]0  cts.) 

"On  ])>irely  rational  grounds  it  is  not  easy  to  meet  the  position  [of  this  little 
b(M>k],  excej/t  by  saying  that  the  words  and  forms  of  our  [usual]  de\otion 
must  i>e  accepted  as //v(/(A7// .'iy//i//o/;c',  and  not  amenalile  to  tlie  inidrrsliind- 
iiKi.  *  *  *  It  IS  good  to  wclcoiiie  a  religious  science  better  than  the  old  hard 
bigotry.  I^till,  while  we  by  no  means  accept  these  '  ri)lifts  '  as  a  necessary  or 
an  adcVpiate  substitute  for  the  customary  exercises  of  devotion,  they  are  at 
least  better  fitted  than  the  or<linary  jiractice  to  a  state  of  mind  far  from  un- 
common, and  greatly  deserving  of  respect."— />o//i  a  seccn-paije  notice  in 
the  Unitarian  Hcvicir. 

The  Duties  of  Women.    By  Frances  Power  Cobbe.    Cloth,  $1.00. 

"The  profoundest,  wisest,  purest,  noblest  book  in  principle,  aim  and  tone 
yet  written  upon  the  true  j/ositii'n  of  ivoman  in  socielij." 


DATE  DUE 

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